This is the first nomination dossier from India that was drafted and supported entirely by citizens. It's a victory for this movement," the excitement in conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah's voice is palpable over the phone from Manama, Bahrain. A few hours earlier, she along with the rest of the Indian delegation had successfully ensured that India's nomination – Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai – got inscribed as a World Heritage Site (WHS) at a UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting yesterday.

As Nayana Kathpalia watched the events unfurl on YouTube from her Oval Maidan-facing flat in Swastik Court, she was relieved and elated. "It was very gratifying to see India's nomination being praised by other countries," she tells us. For the trustee of the OVAL Trust, it has been a long journey along with Lambah, and countless other city citizen groups and associations who ensured that this 14-year-long wait culminated in a sweet victory.