On every street of Mumbai is a small story of great entrepreneurship. On some occasions, it isn't even a street, but a sidewalk. Raghunath Narayen Khote was a mercantile expert in the 19th century. A rotund man with a regal moustache, he cast a long shadow on Bombay's public life. He was the first Indian director of an insurance company in India, the Oriental Life Assurance Co Ltd; in 1868, he was appointed the Justice of Peace; in 1883, the Sheriff of Bombay. A footpath on the western promenade of Chowpatty was named in his honour, and continues to be known as the Khote Footpath today. "This is probably the only place, where a footpath has been named after a person," says Nitin Nimbalkar, a sub-engineer with BEST since 1987.

Nimbalkar, 54, has devoted half his life to unravelling the secrets of Mumbai, to the extent that he recently finished a one-year diploma course in archaeology from Mumbai University. Like the electric cables tucked under our feet, his job and his passion for Mumbai's history are intertwined. "My first work assignment was near Crawford Market, which was the first building in Mumbai to get electricity in 1882. BEST's jurisdiction is the island city: Sion and Mahim to Nariman Point. A lot of heritage and conservation work is concentrated in this area. So, having the workplace here helped."