5 Things To Know Before Coming to Mumbai: The List You Need

Do you also consider how moving to another city will transform your life? And if the city is Mumbai, your life may have to go through a drastic shift in your living style. From a completely different atmosphere to living in the hustle and bustle of Mumbai, you may have little difficulty in adapting yourself to the city’s environment. Here, Things2Do mentions 5 must-know things before shifting to Mumbai that can make your upcoming journey easy. 

1Timings of Mumbai Locals

In the busy city of Mumbai, local trains act as one of the most convenient methods to travel locally. This is due to the hyperactive crowd in this dreamy city, where every person is living a different hustle story. In the chaos of traffic, Mumbai locals (trains) come to the rescue. It doesn’t mean that you won’t find crowds at railway stations. Instead, you may end up facing countless troubles while boarding the Mumbai local trains. But as a corporate newbie in Mumbai or before you become a Mumbaikar, it’s important to know some tips related to these busy local trains. 

The mornings are the busiest due to people travelling from their houses to workplaces. Similarly, evening hours remain busy too. Apart from this, there are two types of trains: slow locals and fast locals. Slow locals, as the name suggests, are comparatively slow due to their stoppage at almost every railway station. On the other hand, fast locals have fewer stops and don’t halt at every station. Even though the latter one costs a little extra, it still is more convenient to travel around. 

The connectivity of Mumbai locals is praiseworthy. It offers a dense network of railway lines to reach where you want to go. It’s not that hard to travel through the locals if you become aware of the basic rules to survive them.

2Traffic/Crowd

Due to the work culture, you can have a hard time understanding how traffic works in Mumbai. But don’t worry, if you are new to Mumbai or planning to be here, we have come up with a guide to help you solve this problem. Before getting in your vehicle, try to form a route in advance. For this, it’s important to know about the constant traffic updates from accessible applications like Google Maps. You can also download the local applications (if any) that provide timely traffic details. If there is a high probability of finding a large crowd, avoid using cars and go for public transport. If the area is nearby, try to avoid a large vehicle like a car. Instead, cover the distance while walking or on the bike. 

In Mumbai, it’s always a better idea to avoid peak hours while travelling. This is because most of the corporate employees travel at a similar time to reach their destinations from one place to another. Since Mumbai is a hub of many tech-based setups, it has many corporate settings for people. To avoid this problem, choose a different time. 

Now comes the most important tip to surviving Mumbai traffic. It requires lots of patience! It’s easy to feel frustration and irritation on the busy roads of Mumbai. During this time, your patience is going to be the ultimate rescue element. 

3Lingo Learn

Mumbai has a diverse crowd due to the employees coming from every corner of India to work here. Many people shift to this dynamic city to build creative careers. In this case, it becomes important to know Hindi so that you can communicate. It’s an easy and common language that is known to most of the people here. 

With Hindi, you won’t have a hard time surviving in Mumbai. Over time, you may also start learning a little bit of the Marathi language due to the environment. This can help you have fair and convenient conversations with cabs and locals. Apart from this, if you’re planning to shift to Mumbai permanently, there’s nothing to worry about. The people of Mumbai are welcoming. They are going to help you in whatever ways they can, as long as there’s a common language both parties understand. With each passing day, you start to observe the accents and lingo of localities in Mumbai (Mumbaikars). From here, you get the urge to mimic their style and tone of language. In this way, you end up learning the language of this place without carrying any extra burden on your shoulders. 

If you know Hindi, Mumbai is good to welcome you with open arms. You can hardly find yourself falling prey to any troublesome situations due to language barriers. So don’t worry, as there’s no need to buy a guide like “How to Learn Marathi in 30 Days”. 

4Drinking and smoking prohibition 

In Mumbai, there are some strict guidelines related to smoking and alcohol consumption that you must be aware of. The legal age to drink alcohol is 24 years and the legal age to buy cigarettes is 21 years. Apart from this, it’s an offence to consume alcohol and smoke cigarettes in public areas like hospitals, shops, monuments, locals, colleges, stations, etc. 

You may face a financial penalty for committing such an offence. These rules are important to follow as per Mumbai’s law enforcement bodies due to their harsh impact on society. 

5Diverse cultures and traditions

Mumbai is a city of diverse cultures and traditions. Here, people belong to every religion and celebrate each festival respectfully. From Diwali to Eid, every occasion provides a chance to come closer and be cheerful. This city teaches moral happiness, cooperation, and love. 

Conclusion: 

Mumbai is a friendly place and it welcomes people from all around the country with open arms. If you understand these 5 necessary things before being a typical Mumbaikar, you can have great experiences and memories in every corner of the city. With time, each day you spend here will feel like a comfortable heaven. 

We cover travel-friendly topics about Mumbai, so make sure to follow us on Instagram at @things2doinmumbai today! 

by Saanchi Gupta

Content Writer at Things2do