I Love Mumbai

Mumbai is the financial capital of India generating 5% of India’s GDP and accounting for 25% of it’s industrial output, 40% of it’s maritime trade, and 70% of the capital transactions of it’s economy. Those are just statistics. Yes! The Reserve Bank of India is here, India’s Hindi film and television industry (Bollywood) is here, and so is the Bombay Stock Exchange, and the National Stock Exchange. Yes, this is the city that people in India have been flocking to in search of a higher standard of living for years.

Aptly named the ‘land of opportunity’, this is the place to be if you have the courage to dream and the will to work hard. With a population of 18 million squashed together in an area of 603.4 sq.km, one wonders how people even manage to breathe let alone dream but that’s what makes this city special. The population keeps increasing, infrastructure is seriously challenged, people keep whining and yet the city keeps thriving. What makes this city thrive? Its cosmopolitan nature. Migrants from all over India have made Mumbai the vibrant potpourri of many cultures and communities. They have one thing in common- ‘the quest of the better life’. Riots, floods, bomb blasts- this city has survived it all. Mumbai spells resilience. There is no time to dwell on things. Things happen. You take them in your stride and keep moving.

From the shoe shine boy to the investment banker-everyone is intensely competitive here. If you have guts, you have skills and if you have the hunger to succeed – you will make it here. That is why I love Mumbai. I was born here and I am addicted to the work culture here. I couldn’t survive in any other city. I was weaned on the energy of this city and I am as much a part of this city as this city is a part of me.