Essay on Mumbai City

The Financial Capital

New Delhi is the official capital of our country India. Mumbai is the financial capital; it serves as a big market for all types of financial trading and transactions, the land of Bollywood, the place where Vada pav is ever famous, the only place where chats are available for relishing even at midnight, the city that never sleeps, in short, the most happening city of our country.

Some of the most popular celebrities of our country as well as industrialists choose Mumbai to be their home. Mumbai is the capital city of Maharashtra. The former city of Mumbai was Bombay. History has it that the name Mumbai was derived from the name of the goddess Mumba Devi.

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The local language of Mumbai is Marathi, although Hindi and English dominate the land. Mumbai lies in the coastal region and the weather varies accordingly. Summers range from Feb to June, July to September is the time for monsoons, October to January is generally reserved for winters.

Summer heat can go to the extreme and may sometimes exceed till 40 degree Celsius. The best time to visit the place for a traveler is during the winters as the weather becomes really pleasant during the time and never becomes too chill beyond a certain temperature.  

A Peep into history  

Let’s now look into the history of this wonderful city. During the time of Asoka the emperor, the current city of Mumbai was actually a cluster of seven regions put together namely, Bombay Island, Worli, Parel, Mahim, Mazagaon, Colaba and Old Woman’s Island. After Asoka’s demise the seven cluster cities went through a lot of re-organizations and re-formations under many rulers.

From the 19th century onwards, the city saw many economic changes on its land that brought about major changes and around 1960, after we got independence, the city of Bombay became the capital of the state of Maharashtra.

Even before India got its independence, the city of Bombay became so prominent that it included lot of town planning activities and measures to construct suburbs within the city.

This formed popular suburbs – Malad, Thane, Andheri, Bandra etc within the city. Today, Mumbai is one of the top metropolitan cities of our country and the city bustles with huge financial buildings, skyscrapers, local trains, busy markets, towering apartment structures and other heritage buildings of prime importance.  

Local Train Services

The local trains services in the city of Mumbai are a gifted facility to the common man whose daily transportation needs are met through this lifeline network. The local train network was the mastermind of the British and the first service began in 1853 and it was the historical ride in the story of India’s railway.

The city is well connected by the local train network and offers major feeder and connectivity services to all the important suburbs of the city and the total distance the network spans can be estimated to be a good 400 kilometer ride. Be it a new visitor to the city or the city dwellers themselves, everyone is acquainted with the local train services and is very famous with the common man.

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We can imagine the management of the suburban railway services when we look at the daily travelers commuting over the local trains and that stands at an estimated rate of around 7.5 million passengers. We can imagine the crowd and hustle bustle surrounding the local train services and why people keep complaining about the need to improvise the century old train network service.

It’s hard to imagine the effort that goes in managing such a huge network of trains that spans across many suburbs, increasing the commuting time for passengers from one place to another. It is a boon for the working community as majority of the travelers on the local trains belongs to that group and many travel to distant places on a daily basis.

The time gap between the departure of a particular train and the arrival of the next one is a mere four to five minute gap, making it the most operational local train network in the country. During peak hours, most of the trains are overcrowded giving little space for travelers to even make some space to stand in the packed place.

Trains can be spotted pouring out with every day commuters and that leaves no room for one to think of a seat for them. Due to the overcrowding and over pouring of trains during peak hours, the death rate of commuters has also risen over the years.

Many people choose to be seated on roof tops of trains and many a times, this may cause electrocution without their knowledge and innocent lives are lost in such accidents. The railway authorities concerned should bring in strict enforcements and law to look into the matters of overcrowding in trains and improve facilities for ease and convenience of travelers.

The journey on a local train is definitely not a comfortable one, but one can be assured of reaching their destination in the shortest time possible through the local train services and that’s why it’s called the lifeline of the city.  

Other Popular Wonders  

The Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus is the most iconic and heritage structure of the city and was built by the British during their rule of the Bombay province. The construction of this railway terminus speaks of intricate details in architecture and marvelous designs of the tombs and pillars.

The Gateway of India is another iconic structure of Mumbai and one side, it has the prestigious Taj Hotel and on the other side, it faces the Arabian Sea. People flock to the gateway with their families during weekends to catch up with the fun at the gateway and are a delight to travelers.

The three kilometer long boulevard of southern Mumbai flanked by six lane roads and Arabian Sea makes it the most popular and most visited spot for the residents of the place.

Youngsters love to visit the place with their friends and have fun at the adjoining Chow patty Beach and relish on the all-time famous chat varieties that are easily available at the place. The Bombay Worli sea link is a big gift to the city dwellers as it reduces travelling time between Bandra and Worli to a great extent.  

Other places of popular visit include Hajji Ali Dargah, the Siddhivinayak temple, Kanheri caves, the world famous golden Pagoda. One can also make time to visit the famous Elephanta caves and the Mumba Devi temple when at Mumbai.

The Mahalakshmi temple and the Sanjay Gandhi national park are other famous weekend hangouts for the people of Mumbai. One can find various shopping options at the Chor Bazaar that has a flea market for all things under the earth. Malad is also a famous shopping place in the suburbs and quite popular with the residents here.

The Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange are Indian stock exchanges located on Dalal Street, Mumbai and are famous for being the oldest stock exchange in the whole of Asia.  

The Lunch Box Delivery System 

The lunch box delivery guys of Mumbai, famously known as the Dabbawalas are operating with their now massive network since as old as 125 years. They bring home cooked food to the office goers from their own homes typically during their lunch hours.

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These lunch box delivery men are the main persons involved in bringing food to the people from their homes. Their network has become massive and offers a high range of hospitality in their services.

Not a single lunch box goes into the wrong hands out of confusion and this is all possible due to the massive efforts and management system that has gone in building this network of delivery men and the efficient communication between their teams.

Most of the lunch box delivery men can be seen flocking to local trains to deliver the lunch boxes at the appropriate time and to the correct person as well.  

Street Food

Mumbai is highly famous for its street food. One can easily relish on pav bhajis, Vada pavs, pani puri and bhel puri, chhole bhatura and added to this list, ice creams, milk shakes and a whole lot of other delights at common places.

Travelers do not have to search extensively for their food needs as there are plenty of restaurants dishing out every type of dishes from the flavors of the city to north Indian, south Indian and all types of international multi cuisines.

This is one of the most developing cities in the whole of Asia and one of the most populous cities as well. A trip to the financial capital is sure to give us lot of options to explore and know more about the most happening place in the country.