{"id":5472,"date":"2016-07-27T04:14:33","date_gmt":"2016-07-26T22:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5472"},"modified":"2016-07-27T04:14:33","modified_gmt":"2016-07-26T22:44:33","slug":"bombay-nariman-point-mumbai-mirrored-shirish-patel-kemps-corner-navi-mumbai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=5472","title":{"rendered":"Bombay to Mumbai: How Nariman Point Evolved From a Patch of the Sea Into the City\u2019s Commercial Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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\nhere are many flattering words that describe Mumbai\u2019s famous Queen\u2019s Necklace and Nariman Point: majestic, grand, and iconic all spring to mind. But four years ago in 2015, the municipal corporation made a change that seemed to rob the neighbourhood \u2013 immortalised in film, print, and song \u2013 of its glory. It was a small change, but when the BMC replaced the old, yellow, sodium vapour lamps that illuminated the stretch with white LEDs, the sea-facing precincts became more energy-efficient… but they did lose their glow.\u00a0<\/span>\n\nAs someone who has lived on Marine Drive their entire life, it was a depressing sight to see streets that once bathed in a luxuriant golden radiance now lit by a cold, unfeeling white light. I wasn\u2019t alone; within a year of the change, after agitation by the Shiv Sena and citizen activists, the white LEDs were replaced with equally efficient yellow ones, and all was right with the world again. But though the Queen\u2019s Necklace and Nariman Point getting their groove back might have felt like a return to status quo, it was just another chapter, and another change, for a district that has seen many in the years since it was willed into existence against the wishes of the Arabian Sea a century ago.\u00a0<\/span>\n\nAs the city has expanded on all sides, Nariman Point has found itself tucked away in a quaint corner, cut off from the maddening hustle that defines the rest of Mumbai. With the city expanding hungrily toward the north and Navi Mumbai coming up to the east, Nariman Point\u2019s south-western address, which once made it the city’s busiest business district, now serves as a protective bubble, keeping the precinct less crowded and peaceful. The newer developments like Navi Mumbai, built with the vision of architect and civil engineer Shirish Patel, are an emblem of the city\u2019s future, while Nariman Point remains a shining reminder to Mumbai\u2019s glorious past. The two precincts have had varied histories, with Navi Mumbai coming into being after careful planning and foresight, while Nariman Point was fashioned over decades, after a story with many twists and turns. A video interview with Shirish Patel, carried out by Mumbai Mirror, sheds more light on Navi Mumbai and its inception, which also throws the contrasting history of Nariman Point into focus.<\/span>\n\n