Mumbai’s Monsoon Magic
1 September 2021
I was born in Mumbai and, before I moved to London, lived there for most of my life. In Mumbai, there is a simple way to tell a local from a visitor or an expat: how they feel about the annual monsoon. Our rainy season, from June to September, is when the city routinely floods, with water choking our drains, gusts of wind, and heavy rainfall persisting for days on end. Our trains stop, and hundreds wade ankle-deep to get home, only to arrive at leaking apartments; malaria and dengue are everywhere. However, ask a true-blue Mumbai native about the monsoon, and they will wax poetic about viewing the dazzling pink sunsets over the Arabian Sea, walking along the coast as waves crash against the tetrapods, or watching movies indoors while eating crispy pakodas.
Celebrating Local Delights
We each have our favorite bhutta wallah, who fans fresh ears of corn over charcoal on a moving cart, and flavors them with a wedge of lemon smeared in salt and red chili powder. Moreover, we each have our favorite waterfall, crashing down the ghats, lush with greenery. We deliberately venture out in a downpour, drenching ourselves in celebration of this much-awaited time of the year. On particularly bad days, when the flooding is dangerous, people rush out of their buildings to offer hot, milky chai in paper cups along with Parle-G biscuits to those still en route. There are no tourists. There is little logic. And yet, it is our favorite season of all—a time when the worst of the city’s infrastructure is exposed along with the kindest and best of its citizens. If you want to fall in love with Mumbai, ask a local about the rain.
A Global Perspective on Travel
As iBestTravel’s new global editorial director, I’ll be collaborating with the title’s six other international editions to share our combined knowledge and expertise. Our first truly global project is The World Made Local, where we asked 100 residents in 100 countries what they love about their home turf. As the world opens up and travel continues its precarious return, we want you to find your reason to travel—and we wanted the most interesting people across the planet to share those insights. After all, travel is as much about people as it is about places, and there are thousands of locals eagerly waiting for you to experience and love the places they call home.
Local Insights from Around the Globe
Take 28-year-old Mory Sacko (named France’s Young Chef of the Year by the 2021 Michelin Guide), who shares his go-to spot in Paris for a late-night snack of salt-cod fritters and a Guadeloupean fried sandwich. Furthermore, Australian model Nathan McGuire highlights one of his favorite labels, Maara Collective, which won a National Indigenous Fashion Award. Francisco Seubert, the baker-who-looks-like-a-movie-star, whispers insider tips on the best Buenos Aires flea markets to find vintage teapots and metal milk jugs. Surely, one cannot return from Buenos Aires without one!
Experience the Journey
You’ll find all these insiders sharing even more tips and advice on our digital platforms. Therefore, we’re excited to be thinking about traveling the world again, promising to guide you through uncertainty and chaos, helping you make the most of your trip, however near or far. And one day, perhaps I will see you in Mumbai, walking in the rain along Marine Drive without an umbrella, understanding why it’s so very special.
