By Janise Anderson
Tonight is my last night in Mumbai. I’ve spent a solid two months living in one of the largest cities in India, but this adventure still feels surreal.
Pukka is one of the first Hindi words I learned. It means “genuine” or “excellent.” Our version of this slang would be “legit.”
Mumbai is pukka in so many ways. It’s a beautiful clash of the traditional and modern, of religion and history and poverty.
Here are the 3 most prominent things about Mumbai that make it pukka.
1. Transportation
There’s nothing boring about getting around in Mumbai. It’s everything from jolting rickshaw rides to over-crowded trains to Uber drivers watching Netflix mid-traffic.
Every rickshaw ride was a new shade of crazy. One time, I squished into the back of one with two of my friends. The driver only drove a few feet before pulling over to the curb.
Twisting around in his seat he said “cap change,” then jumped out of the auto and ran across the street.
I looked at my friends. “Did he say cap change? What does that mean?”
We watched as our runaway driver pulled off his baseball cap and proceeded to buy a new cap from a street vendor! He shoved the new cap onto his head, ran back to us, and off we went as if the “cap change” had never happened.
We held onto each other as this slightly-intoxicated rickshaw driver swerved down the road, singing out Bollywood melodies as he went. He pounded on his horn as people dived out of the way.
During the entire ride, he used his rearview mirrors to keep an eye on us—the three female foreigners. We covered our faces with our dupattas, or “modesty scarves,” while he tried out all the English phrases he’d memorized for a moment like this.
Another very raw and pukka side to Mumbai transportation was their train system. Often we’d shove our way onto overly crowded train cars and try to avoid elbowing everyone around us in the process. But when the trains were emptier, we’d lean out of the train cars and watch the city rush past.
During one of my last train rides in Mumbai, I sat next to the open train door. A small barefoot girl and her brother crouched across from me. She balanced an English picture book on her lap and sounded out the names of plants and flowers.
My friend handed them two Marvel bubble blower toys. The girl, who was sitting right next to the open door, blew bubbles. The racing wind caught her bubbles and sent them spiraling outside.
Even though transportation was extremely different here compared to the States, I came to enjoy and appreciate the unexpected aspect of it.
2. People
You can’t really understand a culture until you encounter it in person. Every day we tried to talk to someone new who had grown up here in this beautiful, wild city.
Encountering the Indian culture has been full of the unexpected. I’ve daily witnessed the genuine love and hospitality of the people of Mumbai.
Strangers invite us into their homes for chai or coffee. They’ll set up chairs for us and buy us bottles of chilled mango juice. We were treated very well even though we were strangers who were completely out of place.
Wherever we went in the city, men stared. As foreigners, we were always being watched.
Always.
Last week I was standing outside of a tailor’s shop when I realized seven flies were calmly gathered on my arm. I wildly swung my arm back and forth to disperse them.
Only then did I look across the street and notice that a dozen men and women had been watching me the whole time.
The stares were constant but harmless. The comments were hilarious though.
As we walked through the city, people would stop and stare. Often we heard them say “Oh. My. God.” A startled “wow” was another common observation we heard.
“Hello, foreigners! American? Australian?” Ten-year-old boys would yell as they ran past us.
Sometimes people would say “Hello. How are you? I am fine, thank you” in one breathless rush.
Overall the people around us showed such warm hospitality and genuine respect. I was impressed by the kindness of so many strangers. One lady invited us into our house, fed us, then gave us a full sari makeover and selfie session.
3. Food
Uh, yeah, this was probably my favorite part about living in Mumbai. Not only could you easily feed four people a huge lunch for only 4-5 dollars, but the food was AMAZING.
We often ate with our fingers and without napkins, which kept things interesting.
We constantly ate Indian bread with chicken gravy sauce or Indian/Chinese rice. The best places to eat were small hole-in-the-wall restaurants without AC or anything. Instead of calling them restaurants here, they called them “hotels.”
It was rude to not completely finish everything on our plate, but we were often served extremely generous portions of rice and meat. We had to learn to push through and eat much more than we were used to!
But the meals and conversation were completely worth it.
The absolute best thing was the daily servings of chai tea. Hospitable moms and grandmas would prepare this sweet milk tea for us. Chai often had ginger and too much sugar–which we loved. They would pour the steaming liquid into small cups. We’d sit barefoot on their floor while we drank chai and talked.
Mumbai was very different from the States in so many ways, but my friends and I absolutely loved encountering the warmth and energy of such a crazy city. If you ever have a chance to visit South Asia, go for it.
You’ll have a pukka time.
Closing Thoughts on Janine’s Mumbai Tips
Carrie here! Thank you so much for dropping by to read this guest post from Janine! If Mumbai, India is on your list, these are fantastic things to know in advance, to give you an idea of what to expect. It’s clear she had a fantastic time in Mumbai, and I’m sure you will, too!
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