After all he gave us CST and the BMC
Last week, March 3 marked the 111th birth anniversary of a son of this city who is now part of its soil. Frederick William Stevens, the man behind the erstwhile Victoria Terminus, (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus), Mumbai’s loveliest and most famous example of Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, lies in a quiet grave in the Christian cemetery at Sewri.
This time, however, while the rest of the city went about its business without sparing him a thought, the late English architectural engineer has some unlikely visitors. Led by one man, the group of people went to the grave, covered it with flowers and placed a wreath upon it to commend the life and work of a “true Mumbaikar”. Interestingly, the group were all members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and they were led by Milind Panchal, the party’s F-South ward Roads and Infrastructure head.
In a brief interview with Afternoon Despatch and Courier, the Arts graduate and Khalsa alumnus, spoke about the renaming of Victoria Terminus, his commemoration of the architectural engineer’s death anniversary and the meaning of being a true Mumbaikar. Some excerpts:
ADC: One would imagine that after VT was renamed CST, any reference to a Victorian association would be looked down upon. Why then this move to honour Fredrick William Stevens?
Milind Panchal: Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is thronged by thousands of visitors from across India every day. For Fredrick William Stevens back then to keep the flow of such a huge number in mind, a hundred years ago, was a very intelligent thing to do. He was, simply put, an architect with a lot of foresight and vision. Considering his contributions to Mumbai with his designs of CST and BMC headquarters, both structures that are world class and fabulous, besides a string of others, he was a true Mumbaikar. When I learned that nobody was even aware of his grave here at Sewri, I felt very disturbed and decided to commemorate the occasion every year, starting this year. You just can’t ignore the man’s contribution to the city.
ADC: What does CST mean to you? Do you associate it with Maharashtra only?
MP: Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus was named as such because of the leader’s influence on the people of Maharashtra. However, a lot of people are unaware of how broadminded and liberal Chhatrapati Shivaji himself was. He never forced anyone to follow a particular faith or religion and instead gave a free hand to anyone and everyone. So, in keeping with his teachings, I feel that we must commemorate a visionary like Stevens for the work he has done and which goes on to form an integral part of Mumbai.
ADC: Don’t you see it as an endorsement of British influence on Indian cityscapes? Why would you risk being misunderstood, when a section feels they should dump everything western and start by renaming roads and structure with Indian names?
MP: I personally feel it's a little harsh to say everything is a result of British influence. In a big way, a lot of our city and nation's structures have been influenced by British as well as other cultural influences. Where CST is concerned, terminus was built over a period of about ten years and is said to be a blend of Victorian designs affected by distinct Italian models. Also, a lot of the railway station's structures display a sharp influence of traditional Indian palace architecture. It's actually the meeting of two cultures, as British architects then worked with Indian craftsmen to include Indian architectural tradition. It’s a distinct blend of cultures and not just English as so often even wrongly assumed.
ADC: It is widely felt that political parties waste a lot of time in naming and renaming places and structures. What do you feel is the need of the hour?
MP: The idea behind renaming the station , a road or a structure is to keep in sync with changing times. After all, the places themselves were named too earlier…they weren’t always named the same since eternity. So, changing a name, in itself shouldn’t be criticized. However, we must not shy away from acknowledging the work done by a luminary of the city, irrespective of his nationality, religion, background or his antecedents. For all practical purposes, anyone who contributes to Mumbai in a manner as substantial as Fredrick William Stevens is a Mumbaikar. You can’t ignore it or take it away from that man. The need of the hour, as I said earlier, is to give credit where it’s due.