WELCOME TO INDIA III: MUMBAI

Before coming to India, most of what I knew about the country was what we watched on Bollywood and the beautiful accounts of Members who I sent to the country way back in 2006, when I was Vice President Responsible for Students going on Exchange/Internship. 

I remember one of the Interns coming to Mumbai and he arrived on the same week of the train bombing in 2006. He was in fact on the train but the compartment he was in and a few others where the few spared. Apart from the bomb scare, there was no complaint from him and He actually was interested in going on another internship. The other interns visited Delhi, Chandigarh and Pune and they all loved it. I had one who refused to come back and I had to practically beg the chick to come finish her study. She was in her finals but fell in love with Chandigarh and was ready to take the risk to start all over. 

If one is not open minded, you hate Mumbai, the moment you set sight on the airport, just before the Plane lands. I get it renovations are going on but the the exterior of the Mumbai airport is not welcoming at all. The beauty of the airport is inside, and better than Nigeria but the structure of the Nigeria airport alone is pride enough. 

The slums of Mumbai starts just outside the airport...welcome to Mumbai is welcome to the slums...Mumbai is overcrowded and crazy...This is not a post to paint Mumbai bad...I here there are some beautiful place in Mumbai...I just feel the airport is located at a wrong spot...The Airport to me is passing out the wrong message about Mumbai... stayed with my friends for two nights in at a district called Anderi West...Not really bad but not encouraging...A fellow Intern who arrived 2days before me and who is going to be working in Mumbai just cannot seem to adjust...right now the culture shock is too much for him and he just might not be here for too long.

Gist about him in my next post.

* I got my resident permit today