India, through Mumbai

India looks so close from Mumbai! The first picture that comes to my mind, when I think about this city of cities, is how, people arrive at it’s doorstep, armed with virtually nothing, and carve out their long standing dreams at the heart of this city and what amazes me truly about Mumbai is that, it never fails to deliver. The potential, the indestructible spirit that Mumbai has always held and the virtually unputdownable enthusiasm is what has made Mumbai what it is today.

The bustling city is an enviable melting pot of cultures, practices, religions and dreams- the economic powerhouse of modern India. Mumbai is one city in India that can spark off your imagination sky high and fuel your ambitions; it can be this city of dreams. Anyone from sight seeing dwellers into the money making machine is welcome and not discriminated against.

Talking about Mumbai and how different it is from other cities, such as Delhi, is owing to the diversity that Mumbai holds up its skin. One thing I noticed about Mumbai that sets this city apart from other Indian states is, people don’t look for a Marathi surname, and they value your work instead of your Marathi-speaking credentials. Mumbai doesn’t dwell on useless issues of provincial details. The open mindedness of the unique work culture has made Mumbai what it is today, ‘The Financial capital of India’.

Mumbai lives through its transportation system. Traveling by train gives a stranger a first hand idea about lives of the people in Mumbai. For them, local trains are a lifeline. Without these trains, life in Mumbai becomes crippled. Everyday, half of Mumbai's population commutes from far-flung suburbs to downtown offices, banks, factories and mills for a living.

Forty percent of India's taxes come from this city alone, and half of India's international trade passes through its splendid natural harbor. In fact Mumbai is the very soul of human enterprise. At the city's Stock Exchange, millionaires and paupers are made overnight, and the sidewalks are crowded with vendors hawking everything from ballpoint pens to second hand mixies. Nearly thirteen million people live here - wealthy industrialists, flashy film stars, internationally acclaimed artists, workers, teachers and clerks - all existing cheek by jowl in soaring skyscrapers and sprawling slums.

Being the city of Bollywood, Mumbai allures thousands of aspirant actors and artists from all over the country. Experience its dazzling nightlife in bars, lounges, pubs, discotheques and beaches. Uncover the spiritual side of the magnificent city in its places of worship. Parks, gardens, museums, shopping malls, amusement parks, beaches and lakes define the charisma of this economic hub.

Mumbai, the biggest metropolis of India, is a city that virtually never sleeps. In this city of dreams, life never appears dull or boring, especially due to the presence of its interminable chaos and action.

As shobha de puts it in an article on Mumbai, being her home, “Its Mumbai, the city which stands tall, head high in the face of all adversity, whose resilience is egged on by a never-say-die spirit in the wake of floods and fire and fanatics who plague the streets in the name of religion and creed. But whose children reach out to assist each other in turbulent times. It is the city that churns out the Ambanis and the rags-to-riches stories, one a piece in every street. It is the city whose naked ambition is to become another Shanghai or Singapore is a talisman force by itself, not deterred by the size of its children or the destructive pride of its leaders. It is the city that gave the world Vada-Pav and six sigma rated lunch delivery services pioneered by the Dabbawallah's guild that is making the nation proud and putting Fed-Ex to shame. It is the city that houses some of your favorite people. It is the city that is beyond the rat race, a battle-ground for warriors where even a silent spectator watches history as it happens.”