Mumbai Life - Part 1


I was born and brought up in West Bengal. My entire education and initial part of career was spent in Kolkata. It's only after marriage that I came to Mumbai. Before this I spent 2 years in Mangalore and 3 months at Indore for study and work purpose, respectively. Hence you can clearly understand I didnt have much cultural exposure.
Before relocation to Mumbai, my interaction with this city had been just with its airport - due to connecting flight. There were no direct flight from Mangalore, hence every time I traveled between  Kolkata & Mangalore my connecting flight was at Mumbai.
The first time I actually landed here at Mumbai to stay and the moment I was on my way to my new home, the first thing that struck me were not the high rise buildings of the city, nor the auto rickshaws which flooded the roads, but the dish tv antennas at every house or rather at every "chawl" on the roadside. Chawl is the other name of the slum houses of Mumbai.
In my opinion dish tv was supposed to be an indication of financial wellness. And living in slum was supposed to be an indication of not so healthy financial condition. I couldnt match this two. How can these 2 contrasting things stay together - I wondered. When I was in the middle of my thoughts, I saw people coming out of the chawls. They had tattooed arms and were well dressed. From their appearance it was difficult to conceive the idea that they stay at chawls.
I asked my husband cum Mumbai guide about this. He said, "Appearance wise you would find the elite class and the chawl people of Mumbai to be pretty similar."
Later on I actually found out more about this, which I shall share in later part of my blog.
Certainly Mumbai has one of the world's largest slums - at Dharavi. But Mumbai is much more than that. As an outsider to this city I found out several things about this so called "Sapno ka Shehar" or "Land of Dreams" city. Every year lacs and lacs of people from different parts of the country and also from the world come to this city to fulfill their aspirations. As per census 2001, 71 lakhs migrants came to Mumbai and this number constitutes 35% of the city's population.
No wonder why the concept of 1 bhk is or 1 rk is so popular in this city. 1 bhk is one hall, one bedroom kitchen and bathroom and 1 rk is one room kitchen and bathroom. The city definitely has adjusted with the space crunch. And so have the real estate prices of this city. Here, the hoardings for flat ads have price tags starting from 1.2 crores for 1bhk flat. When it comes to real estate in Mumbai, the starting price point is in crores. If you come across any flat worth 80 lacs you may be assured its not in Mumbai, but in Thane or Navi Mumbai.
I know what you are thinking. Even I thought so - Thane, Navi Mumbai and Mumbai are all same. But after coming here I have found out that actual and original Mumbai is the South Mumbai or the Colaba to Mahim area which covers places like Gateway, Nariman Point, Lower Parel. There are hardly new constructions in this part of the city, mostly the new buildings here are as a result of demolition of the old buildings. If someone tells you he is from south Bombay, it means he is there in Mumbai for generations and yes his family is filthy rich. Apart from south Bombay another part of Mumbai is central Mumbai which covers till Mulund, which is just before Thane. Thane is a separate district altogether, so is Navi Mumbai. But since Thane and Navi Mumbai were developed much later, these are more planned and better looking aesthetically.
Another striking part for me was as I traveled across the city, I found small hills on either side of the roads and the roads of this city are not flat, they are either ascending or descending. It is a hilly area after all!

Well, generally my blogs are long - mostly I get this feedback from my readers. Hence would end this one for today and would continue on things like 'places to visit in Mumbai' and 'culture of the people' of this "city which never sleeps" in my next blog.

P.S - The pic here is at Gateway of India. That's me and that's my little brother. This pic was taken when my brother had come down to the city all alone to visit me and to explore the city.

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