A word to the wise: beef up those resilience skills before you visit Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay. Like so many Indian cities, it teeters on the verge of chaos without ever quite losing its grip, sweeping newcomers and locals along on a tide of enormous energy that catapults you around its vast quarters – regardless of what’s actually on your itinerary. There’s no need for alarm – it never feels unsafe – but be prepared for an assault on the senses. All of your senses. This is, after all, a city of 18 million people. And they all like to talk at once.
Mumbai likes to chat. It also likes to drive (rather recklessly), honk, barter, cook, duck, dive and dream. The sheer noise of the place is off the scale. But serious money-making goes on behind the scenes, as befits its status as financial capital of India, and this is a city where people work hard. Something is always being bought, sold, stirred, served, built or rebuilt, and there’s a collective drive that’s impressive to witness.
It’s no surprise that this place of passion, determination and drama has become the heart of India’s prolific film industry, and those Bollywood lovelies go crazy for the eye-popping fashion labels you’ll find here. Behind the glamour lie the slums – some of the largest in Asia – but the two worlds co-exist in a (mostly) harmonious fashion. Mumbai is a tale of two cities indeed – and not to be missed.