Before and After: Churchgate Station

This is how Churchgate looked in the early 1900s.

This is what it looks like at present:

Churchgate station was my first love amongst the various railway stations of Bombay. I would wait for a weekend when I could go and see a movie at the Sterling cinema theatre, eat chicken cutlets swimming in gravy at the cafe beside New Excelsior, shop for books at the Strand bookstall, walk alongside wide roads with pedestrian crossings and every facility one did not see often in the narrow lanes of Bombay's suburbs.

It was a treat, going to the Prince of Wales museum. Spending the whole day there absorbed in the works of art, antique jewellery, costumes, weapons and collections of snuff boxes from around the world. What I loved most to look at were ancient civilisations: Mohenjo Daro and Harappa in the Indus valley. These came from a land near India. Ancient pottery, figurines, entire ancient cities dug up from the sands of present times.

Behold, the Flora Fountain!

A grand fountain in the heart of South Bombay. You cross it to go to the Strand bookstall, or the other way, to Kalaghoda (the art district). It's within walking distance from the Victoria Terminus (now called Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) and Churchgate railway stations. From the Wikipedia: Within a radius of 2 mi (3.2 km) of the fountain, visitors can also see the most impressive institutions and buildings namely, the Univertsity of Mumbai, the old Secretariat, and the famous Gateway of India, the Bombay High Court (built in 1879 in the Venetian Gothic style characteristic of all of Bombay's public buildings put up in the Nineteenth century), the Central Telegraph Office, the old Secretariat (built in 1874) and many other heritage buildings. [14]

Churchgate is great even for a walk. I've never enjoyed walking the streets of Mumbai anywhere else but here. And if you're thirsty for a drink or want a bite of something flavorful and substantial, drop into any of its cafes - old and new!