A lot of reviews have been written on Mumbai. I would like to say that as a resident of Mumbai for the past five years, I’ve come to love the city.
When I first moved here to complete school, I was depressed. I did not know anyone, the trains were crowded, the rains soaked me, many parts of the city were filthy, the crowds scared me, the sporadic violence and fundamentalism disgusted me, and the attitudes and principles that people lived by were different from mine.
But in time I made friends. And that made the city a whole lot more fun. Traveling by train everyday to college made it a routine exercise rather than a burden. I no longer noticed the crowds. It’s just became a routine procedure to me. Same with the filth, violence and the city’s other problems. It’s not that I like these things or would like to keep the city this way; it’s just that after living here so long the negative aspects tend to blur and recede into the background and you only look forward to the good things the city has to offer. I don’t forget or try to forget the city’s problems. They just don’t surprise or shock me anymore. I do find it important however to try to improve the city. Everyone can do his or her part, no matter how small, right? And of course there’s always a new mall to go to or a friend’s home to visit in a part of the city that you have not yet seen before. The city just grows on you.
These are only the impressions of a resident of Mumbai. I suppose an outsider experiencing the city for the first time would feel as lost as I felt when I first came here. A tourist on a short visit should probably not visit anything other than the city’s main landmarks which are mainly in town and a brave backpacker would certainly experience a culture shock what with the problems I’ve described above if he or she dared try to tame the city alone. Foreign tourists certainly would not be interested in the latest malls, theatres, complexes, parks, etc springing up all over the city (except the nightclubs). However, someone on a longer visit should try talking to the local people and explore the little regions of Mumbai that still retain their individual cultures (the by lanes of Bandra for example). Then they would really get to see the parts of the city that sadly few tourists see and experience.
To conclude, I ’d like to say that any place, any town and any city could be fun as long as you have friends for company and are ready for new experiences. But to really know and love Mumbai, you’ve got to live here for a while.