It’s a surprisingly quiet afternoon. Horniman Circle’s roads are bare except for a carpet of flyers and the confetti-like vestiges of fireworks popped the previous night. Here and there, pedestrians pace around casually, with neither purpose nor passion. Between the imposing gate that looks freshly painted and a forgotten, dry piyau where domesticated cattle and horses once paused for their afternoon rest and refreshment, a man enjoys his slumber, head propped up on an elbow, his body framed by the arcs of an oversized metal pot chained to an old tree. A Victoria jingles across, enjoying the luxury of this unusually clear road. The rare scene lends itself to a sepia tint. This is what the area must have looked like once.

Horniman Circle was so christened to honour Benjamin Horniman, a British citizen who edited Indian newspapers and condemned the British regime with such fearlessness that he was banished from India in 1919. Pic/ Suresh KK