"Psst, Lady Flora; are you awake?" Sir PM Mehta tiptoed around the fountain's base, parts of which were still under a shroud and scaffolding, hoping not to attract unnecessary attention. Looking splendid, post restoration, she turned, and gracefully stepped down from her pedestal, to greet her old confidante from the other end of the road. "The non-stop drilling because of the Metro work is turning out to be a nightmare, Pheroze. No beauty sleep; no R&R - all of which was necessary, if I am to recall my restorers' advice," she sighed.

"Throughout Hornby Road (now Dr DN Road), it's the same drill (pun intended), whenever I step down to take a stroll in the wee hours of the morning. I wonder how my friends in aapro Petit's Reading Hall and Library have been managing, or even the monsoon-battered columns that hold Whiteway and Laidlaw (now Khadi & Village Commission). It brought back memories of traumatic sessions on the dentist's chair to extract my molars," Sir PM winced, even as his last few words were drowned in the high-decibel drilling, as the two statues made their way down the iconic road. Iconic, maybe not. For a while now, the heritage lover will have to make peace with the reality that half of the road's grandeur has been marred by wall-high dividers.