Rail travelers arriving at the in-dian city of Mumbai—formerly Bombay— are rewarded by an early example of technological imperialism: Victoria Terminus. A pile of gray stone standing five stories high, it was decorated under the auspices of the father of Rudyard Kipling, author of The Jungle Book and other tales from the era of the British Raj.Vast, dark and full of echoes, it looks more like a monument than a station. On hot days—and there aren't many other kinds in Mumbai—it captures, traps and bakes the mixed smells of smoke, dust, body odor and garbage. It's a grand building, a very English building, and one that screams, "We own you, and you'll do things our way, practical or not."
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