Maximum City ! Maximum shock !

I have stayed in different places in India. But the culture shock when I moved to Mumbai in 2007 was unmatched. Mumbai is not more crowded than Chennai or even Calcutta, during peak hours. But I quickly found out that it’s always “peak hour” in Mumbai. I wondered if people ever got comfortable with perpetual rush hour - 21 hours a day. Also the people around here always seem to be in a hurry. Nobody seemed to have time to exchange pleasantries.  

 The distances seemed endless. In any other city I would have been out of the city within an hour. Here it took me 2 hrs just to reach my office. I was also shocked by the extreme poverty and ridiculous opulence standing side by side in Mumbai. Walking down the street, I am likely to pass someone who earns nothing, then someone earning Rs. 100 a day, then someone earning Rs. 20000 a day.

 My biggest - and least expected - culture shock happens when I went back to my native city – Mangalore. Everything around seemed to be moving a snail’s pace. It took me three days to get over how fast life is in Mumbai.

 All in all, it does take a while to adjust to being in Mumbai but rest assured, most people start feeling more comfortable after a couple of weeks. Before long I found myself falling into a love-hate relationship with the maximum city, its frustrations and its strange appeal.