my first mumbai visit

Spacious, clean and clear signboards - these were my first impression of the Mumbai airport. This was quite a nice change after the Delhi airport. I landed in Mumbai at 2230 on 14th October. I called up my sister who came to pick me around 2300. We took a taxi back to her place. I was quite tired after the flight and I crashed at her small apartment soon after we reached there.

Next morning I had to visit one of my father's contacts. I was also introduced to something that might come across as an oddity for a Delhi/Bangalore guy - You get into a auto rickshaw and tell the driver "Go to location XYZ". You do not need to ask him first "Will you go to location XYZ? How much will you charge?". You just get in, tell him where to go and the driver start his meter and takes you to location XYZ. No haggling. Strange, but nice!

The Mumbai roads are smooth, there are very few speed-breakers and the drivers are somewhat disciplined.

However, let me get to the point that I liked the most - NIGHT LIFE. Mumbai is truly the metro city of India. It simply has no competition. I was out in the streets till 5 AM in the morning and the city was still bustling. I went to the Juhu beach and the shops there were still open past midnight. I am not really a night-person, but I sometimes like to go out for junk food around midnight. There were plenty of auto rickshaws available even at 5 AM in the morning.

What are the downsides of living in Mumbai? I would say - the high cost of accommodation and peak hour traffic. Everyone I met complained about both these things.

I can now understand why people from Mumbai do not want to move out of it. I had a good time visiting the city. In the end, thanks to cray3 for the fantastic idea of going to Juhu at midnight, movie at her place and a nice dump of trance music.