Mum’s the Word: Mumbai’s the World
Mumbai is capital:
in the Indian state of Maharashtra, 17th century British took
over Mumbai and anglicized the name of the city to Bombay.
Mumbai is big:
full of dreamers and laborers, starlets and gangsters, stray dogs
and exotic birds, artists and servants, fisherfolk and millionaires.
Mumbai is big:
filled with expansive slums, a huge film industry, the world’s
most expensive home, the largest urban-zoned tropical forest.
Mumbai is big:
fashion epicenter, financial powerhouse, pulse-point of religious
tension, a city with its own evolved language: Bambaiyya Hindi.
Mumbai is a big mix:
If this is your introduction to India, prepare yourself. The city itself
has furious energy, punishing pollution, and limited public transport.
Mumbai is a big mix:
Visit the fading Taj Mahal and view grand colonial-era architecture.
Seek out unique bazaars, spicy eateries, hidden temples, hip enclaves.
Mumbai is a big mix:
While you visit and explore: Burn incense. Bless sadhus. Be prepared.
Bow before all the blessed gods and goddesses who will welcome you.
. . . . .
Poet: Susan Powers Bourne
Source: The Lonely Planet
Process: Excerpt and remix