"Why Mumbai?" This is one of those questions that many of my non-mumbaikar friends, relatives, family members ask me. And the answer I always give is - "coz its Mumbai and nothing beats it". Obviously many don't understand it. So here is why I feel like staying in Mumbai for all my life...
This city is one of the largest cosmopolitan city in India and world. You will find all sorts of people here. You might even want to call it mini India for that matter. Maybe that is the reason why Mumbaikars celebrate almost all the festivals (of all cultures around the world) with the same enthusiasm they express while worshipping cricket. So what if it is crowded or a little more polluted, this city has one of the best life styles you can get.
It is blazing fast. It would be near end of your day before even you realize it. Once you are in the groove, you will feel the adrenaline rushing up your spine every single moment of your day.
We have the best public transport system in the city. The buses, trains, autorickshaws, cabs, etc. You might not find any other city in the world where public transport reaches to remotest corner of the city and that too at very reasonable rates. We always crib about how the autowala cuts through the traffic or how crowded the trains and buses are, but we need to understand that this transport system is serving over a million commuters daily and more keep on adding every second. And despite of this, its doing a very good job.
Its rightly termed as city that never sleeps. Where else in India will you feel safe to travel a distance equalling Churchgate to Virar at 12.30 or 1.00am in the night. The last train from Churchgate station is more crowded then the ones in the afternoon. There are even buses that keep running all night long. Where else will you be able to enjoy a pav-bhaji or bhurji-pav (even though I don't have it I know my friends do and they love it) at even 3am or 4am in the night. I cannot remember a single day when I could not find a restaurant or a food stall open late in the night (when I was awake till late of course).
We have beaches, seafronts, lakes, zoos, national parks, museums, mountains, jungles, gardens, hotels, restaurants, gyms, schools, offices, large corporations, you name it and its there in Mumbai. It is home to millions and is willing or unwillingly accepting more.
And most of all, where will you find such strong, loving and caring people. No matter how many of you say that Mumbaikars don't have time for anything, that they just run run and run to get to work or home or shopping, that they don't care about others, Mumbaikars have time and again showed the world what they are made up of. Be it the numerous bomb blasts or July 2005 flooding or 26/11 terror attacks or any other disaster, every single time, a Mumbaikar has always stood besides his fellow Mumbaikars. I was myself caught in the floods in 2005. I had to walk all the way from Sion to Vile Parle in drenched clothes and at many places in neck deep water. What I witnessed at many places throughout the way was people from giving out water, biscuits, bananas, etc. to all passing by. And all this for free with no intention of getting anything in return. I even witnessed a caterer serve the food he prepared for a marriage to passengers stranded on Vile Parle station. Many let strangers stay in their home for more than 5 days so that they can return once the water level recedes. I think there is no other city in the world who gets back to normal on the very next day of a terrorist attack of the scale of 26/11.
A friend of mine told me told something he experienced lately. He was travelling in a train from Dadar (and all those who have travelled by train from Dadar know how crowded the trains are and how difficult it is to get in the trains). He got into the luggage compartment along with a couple who had a 3-4yr child (boy) with them. Immediately (as expected), the other passenger in that coach started yelling "why are you getting in this coach with a child", "This is only for people with luggage" and so on. Because of this yelling, the boy started crying and wont stop. Obviously he is getting a little irritated will all the noise and heat. And this is the best part, those who were yelling at them earlier went silent and actually took care of the boy, playing with him, trying to console him....
This is what Mumbai is all about. All this and many more things make Mumbai a very very special place and this is why I love MUMBAI.
This city is one of the largest cosmopolitan city in India and world. You will find all sorts of people here. You might even want to call it mini India for that matter. Maybe that is the reason why Mumbaikars celebrate almost all the festivals (of all cultures around the world) with the same enthusiasm they express while worshipping cricket. So what if it is crowded or a little more polluted, this city has one of the best life styles you can get.
It is blazing fast. It would be near end of your day before even you realize it. Once you are in the groove, you will feel the adrenaline rushing up your spine every single moment of your day.
We have the best public transport system in the city. The buses, trains, autorickshaws, cabs, etc. You might not find any other city in the world where public transport reaches to remotest corner of the city and that too at very reasonable rates. We always crib about how the autowala cuts through the traffic or how crowded the trains and buses are, but we need to understand that this transport system is serving over a million commuters daily and more keep on adding every second. And despite of this, its doing a very good job.
Its rightly termed as city that never sleeps. Where else in India will you feel safe to travel a distance equalling Churchgate to Virar at 12.30 or 1.00am in the night. The last train from Churchgate station is more crowded then the ones in the afternoon. There are even buses that keep running all night long. Where else will you be able to enjoy a pav-bhaji or bhurji-pav (even though I don't have it I know my friends do and they love it) at even 3am or 4am in the night. I cannot remember a single day when I could not find a restaurant or a food stall open late in the night (when I was awake till late of course).
We have beaches, seafronts, lakes, zoos, national parks, museums, mountains, jungles, gardens, hotels, restaurants, gyms, schools, offices, large corporations, you name it and its there in Mumbai. It is home to millions and is willing or unwillingly accepting more.
And most of all, where will you find such strong, loving and caring people. No matter how many of you say that Mumbaikars don't have time for anything, that they just run run and run to get to work or home or shopping, that they don't care about others, Mumbaikars have time and again showed the world what they are made up of. Be it the numerous bomb blasts or July 2005 flooding or 26/11 terror attacks or any other disaster, every single time, a Mumbaikar has always stood besides his fellow Mumbaikars. I was myself caught in the floods in 2005. I had to walk all the way from Sion to Vile Parle in drenched clothes and at many places in neck deep water. What I witnessed at many places throughout the way was people from giving out water, biscuits, bananas, etc. to all passing by. And all this for free with no intention of getting anything in return. I even witnessed a caterer serve the food he prepared for a marriage to passengers stranded on Vile Parle station. Many let strangers stay in their home for more than 5 days so that they can return once the water level recedes. I think there is no other city in the world who gets back to normal on the very next day of a terrorist attack of the scale of 26/11.
A friend of mine told me told something he experienced lately. He was travelling in a train from Dadar (and all those who have travelled by train from Dadar know how crowded the trains are and how difficult it is to get in the trains). He got into the luggage compartment along with a couple who had a 3-4yr child (boy) with them. Immediately (as expected), the other passenger in that coach started yelling "why are you getting in this coach with a child", "This is only for people with luggage" and so on. Because of this yelling, the boy started crying and wont stop. Obviously he is getting a little irritated will all the noise and heat. And this is the best part, those who were yelling at them earlier went silent and actually took care of the boy, playing with him, trying to console him....
This is what Mumbai is all about. All this and many more things make Mumbai a very very special place and this is why I love MUMBAI.
