Victoria Terminus

The thought of Bombay excites Dhundhi, but he is saddened by the seperation from his friend. Somewhere, he is hurt. He takes his frustration out on his sister, who is teasing him for his tears. He is around nine years old. With his parents, uncle, brother and sister,Dhundhi first crosses the sacred Godavari river from Trymbak to Nasik. They then catch a train bound for Bombay. That evening on the train, Dhundhi's father takes out a miniature ritual yagnavedi in metal to perform his evening puja. From the train we see, at a far distance, a huge bellows camera being carried on a bullock cart handled by eight Lilliputian men. As within, a ritual is taking place, the train stops and the eight men assemble and load the Gulliver-like camera to take a single profile shot of the entire length of the train. The sight of the huge machine mesmerizes Dhundhi, the boy. The train moves on. After a while, it enters a cave-like Victoria Terminus, almost as though entering a camera obscura, and halts. A crowd gets off. Dhundhi is seperated from his family and gets lost. Darkness descends. He is alone in a deserted Victoria Terminus], bewitched by the carvings of gargoyles, lizards, lions, tigers, flora and fauna, like in a fairyland. Suddenly it satrs to rain, and everything comes to life. Streams of water pour out of the stone mouths of mythical monsters, frothing at the jaws. Dhundhi is shaken, shivering with cold, crying for his father in the dark. But it is still unreal twilight outside VT station that a group of boys from the JJ School of Arts sit with hammers and knives, carving out figures on the terraces and the tops. The cotton loaders are tasing a Victoria look-alike, a mad woman at the fountain outside. Picking up leaves as if to build a nest, small birds move above. A Victoria enters and drags a woman away by the hair. A mad dog chases Dhundhi through a backdrop- streets, railways lines, ships and factories. He enters a palace and finds the princess stretching her arms and calling his name, and then metamorphising into a frightening old woman. With a jerk, Dhundhi comes awake. He is fifteen years old.

[ Bori Bunder (alternatively "Bori Bandar") was one of the areas along the Eastern shore line of Mumbai, India which was used as a storehouse for goods imported and exported from Mumbai. In the area's name, 'Bori' mean sack and 'Bandar' means port or haven (in Persian); So Bori Bunder literally means a place where sacks are stored. In the 1850s, the Great Indian Peninsular Railway built its railway terminus in this area and the station took its name as Bori Bunder.On 16th April, 1853 the Great Indian Peninsula Railway operated the historic first passenger train in India from Bori Bunder to Thane covering a distance of 34 km, formally heralding the birth of the Indian Railways. The train between Bori Bunder and Thane was 57 minutes it was a distance of 35 km apart. The station was eventually rebuilt as the Victoria Terminus, named after the then reigning Queen, and has been subsequently renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CSTM) after Maharashtra's and India's famed 17th century king. Though the shortened name is now CST, it still continues to be referred to as VT by the masses. The station was designed by the consulting British architect Frederick William Stevens(1848-1900). Work began in 1878. He received 1,614,000 (US$32,199.3) as payment for his services.[1] Stevens earned the commission to construct the station after a masterpiece watercolour sketch by draughtsman Axel Haig.[1] The final design bears some resemblance to the St Pancras railway station in London.[1][5] GG Scott's plans for Berlin's parliament building had been published four years before, and also has marked similarities to the station's design.[6] It took ten years to complete[5] and was named "Victoria Terminus" in honour of the Queen and Empress Victoria; it was opened on the date of her Golden Jubilee in 1887.[5][7] It cost £260,000 when it was finished in 1888, the highest for any building of that era in Bombay.[6] This famous architectural landmark in Gothic style was built as the headquarters of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway. Since then, the station came to be known as Bombay VT.]