Our First Year as Expats in Mumbai, India

Moving to India, as a single mom with two young children, has been one of the most exhausting, exhilarating, stressful, chaotic, and simultaneously magnificent times of my life.

It’s been 410 days since I landed in Mumbai as a expatriate resident, and wow, it has been quite the rollercoaster ride!

If you’ve been reading Expat Heather for a few years, you’ll know that I was ready to leave Ho Chi Minh City after five years in Vietnam. I felt Mumbai would be a good fit for a number of reasons.

In spite of the initial chaos, has Mumbai lived up to its reputation? Here are the reasons that originally drew me to this “Maximum City,” followed by my thoughts after spending a year in Mumbai.

Easy access to creative arts / music / dance / drama / visual art

Absolutely yes! It has been overwhelming because of the array of different events you can attend and participate in around the city. The only major roadblock to this is that my school is located far north of the city center, in an area called Dahisar. It’s right over the city limit, and being along the main artery for the daily commute by both road and train, it’s difficult for me to get out on a weeknight without planning for a very late evening. Mumbai has certainly lived up to my expectation as far as what’s on offer, but often I find the 1.5 to 3-hour commute into town too exhausting to take full advantage. On the plus side, I have been able to visit a Bollywood studio, attend several live music events, and take the kids to a the Kala Ghoda Festival. The kids also enjoyed being part of a full-scale musical in school and having drama, dance, music, and pottery as part of their regular schedule.

Pervasive academic and literary culture

One of the highlights of my fall semester here was attending Mumbai’s first Spoken Word Festival. It was so encouraging to hear so many writers share their work, and the pieces addressed important issues of social justice and awareness. My favorite speaker was a young girl from Delhi’s Slam Out Loud. I also attended a lively Shakespeare workshop during the event that I was immediately able to make use of in my English classes. Mumbai hosts many literary groups, although my location in the northern suburbs makes my involvement limited. Thankfully my kids have been able to benefit by meeting local children’s authors at in-school events. Gabriel has been inspired to be an author himself and has been very busy making comics.

Quick access to green space / hiking opportunities

The school campus has a decent-sized field and playground area where I’m able to go out daily for walks and have a post-school workout. Sanjay Gandhi National Park is about a 20-minute drive south of us; the kids and I went there once together, but the park is too large to take the kids around the entire without having a vehicle. However, for adults, it’s a nice spot to walk, hike, or bike in the city.

Low cost of living / affordable travel opportunities

According to Numbeo, Mumbai ranks 486 out of 527 cities in the world for cost of living. Getting around is pretty cheap considering the options of train, metro, and auto-rickshaw. Uber and taxis are also much less expensive than in many countries. A ride of an hour in Mumbai traffic may cost around 350 Rs, or approximately $5. Groceries and hygiene items are cheap, although anything imported tends to be expensive. I once accidentally bought a small packet of pine nuts which I thought were 60 Rs ($0.87), but were actually 600 Rs ($8.70). Eek! Eating out is affordable, as is entertainment. Domestic air tickets are bit pricier as compared to Vietnam’s budget airlines, but you can also book affordable train or bus travel at cheaper prices. Train tickets need to be booked well ahead to guarantee seats. Last academic year’s trips included two theme park visits to Lonavala, a week-long trip to northern Kerala for elephant safaris, two weeks in southern Kerala, a northern Himalayan adventure by trek and motorbike for me, and a week of wandering and snowshoe hiking in Manali.

Continued access to childcare / domestic help

Finding a nanny was much more of a challenge than I expected. I was looking for a full-time, live-out nanny who speaks English and would do the cooking, cleaning, and shopping while the kids were at school. In Mumbai, many local families have multiple domestic staff, so instead of having just one person doing everything, they may have a nanny for the kids, a maid for the cleaning, and a chef for the cooking. It is also common for domestic staff to live-in. I spent many hours on the phone with maid/nanny agencies, only to be told again and again that I would need to hire multiple people, and that females were not likely to know Western cooking. I was also told that nannies who spoke English would not be able to clean, cook, or shop. At one point, the most popular agency in Mumbai suggested I hire three people, and have all of them living in my apartment! Finally, through the help of the HR Manager at another international school, and through a chain of contacts, I was able to find the amazing nanny that has been with us for the last year. This was a major stroke of luck. If you plan to move to Mumbai, be sure to discuss childcare options with your employer in detail.

More stable / varied social scene

Turns out I am in the wrong part of Mumbai city to enjoy the social scene of Mumbai on a regular basis. I underestimated the travel time from my area into town, and it’s just too tiring to do it regularly. Two friends of mine were in town for an educational conference, and in order to meet in the touristy area of town, it took 2 hours to go south and 1.5 hours to head back north to my place. My area is a bit isolated, so while other parts of Mumbai like Andheri, Colaba, Bandra or Juhu would have this advantage, not so in Dahisar. If I had the energy to get out of Dahisar more often, there are so many cool get-togethers like a Lindy Hop Club and weekend hiking groups. That said, I have met some wonderful people and I have never been bored! Traveling times are the toughest thing in Mumbai.

The following three points, I didn’t have much time to explore in the first year. It’s been nice to use Hindi again, although I put much of my free “mental” time into lesson planning and little energy was left for expanding my language skills. Hoping this year to learn more!

Greater ease in connecting with local culture / learning language

Strong, local social justice initiatives

Strong journalistic culture / more access to investigative journalism

Mumbai has its challenges: The traffic is horrific. The rainy season turns our apartment into a mold factory. Unexpected and noisy events take place all the time.

However, in spite of the frustrations, this past year has been so rich in experiences that I have completely neglected to write about it, even once! I’m excited to see what this school year brings now that we are out of the settling-in phase and have a better gauge on what to expect of this chaotic and wonderful city.