Thursday, May 15, 2008

The Queen's Necklace

Many years ago, I read the following passage in Mary Higgins Clark's book Moonlight Becomes You, and the lines have stayed with me ever since for some reason:

Manhattan stretched before him, ablaze with lights. He looked at the East River bridges and remembered that when he had told Maggie his office was on the forty-second floor of the World Trade Center, she had told him about the first time she had gone for a cocktail at Windows on the World atop the center. “It was just becoming dusk. The lights of the bridges went on, and then all the building and streetlights started glowing. It was like watching a highborn Victorian lady put on her jewelry—necklace, bracelets, rings, even a tiara.”

We were driving along Marine Drive in Mumbai today evening, and the lights both on the road we were approaching and across the harbour were absolutely brilliant to watch. My father mentioned how the road used to be called a "Queen's Necklace" because of the lights lining the road, which immediately brought back this passage to mind.

4 comments:

R said...

you's in bombay :(

R said...

... not that it makes a difference because I'm just as far away from you, but it seems further, you know?

susheel said...

Ohh!!! What a co incidence. I too am in Mumbai. I will be leaving for Coimbatore on Wednesday though.

That Apart, how do you find Mumbai? I for one, love this place.

a traveller said...

@Ziggy: You know, technically, Mumbai's closer to you than New Delhi. So says http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/distance.html anyway. But, yers, I know. But I'm home now and I lowe you anyway.

@susheel: hulloo, hulloo... Bombay was fun... though we were there just a couple of days... went round to the hill stations nearby as well. Nice family holiday! :)