Anyone lived in Mumbai as an Expat?

Hi TimTam... I can understand how scary this move must seem with the majority saying how filthy, poor and busy the place is! I've never been an 'expat' in mumbai... but mumbai is home for me so I will always be a bit partial to the place! :) Friends of mine (expats) recently moved to Mumbai and they had to shift their son from a British curriculum school to an IB school there. He goes to Oberoi International and they have found the transition quite smooth. They have a lovely three bedroom apartment close to school (Andheri) and the compound they stay in has many expat families and many activities to keep them socially active. YES there's traffic but they live and work close by so are transported via a four wheel drive with driver... YES there are beggars at the traffic lights and under flyovers but you will find that even in New York! YES there is pollution with the eternal smog... but that's also the case in, for example, Hong Kong! It comes with all the industries that are based there... in Dubai we're spoilt silly with pretty much nothing but aluminium being manufactured here hence hardly any industry fumes... [i'>“Bombay is the home of the effortlessly cool. Living and working in Bombay means stenciling your own personality on its walls, no pretensions, no protocol. It’s chaotic and manic in a way that makes being unproductive impossible.”[/i'> All the very best on your journey ahead :) P.S.:- Tampons are available at most chemists and large hypermarkets! <em>edited by abby_n_christina on 10/03/2013</em>

Hi Tim Tam! We just finished a stint in India/ Mumbai a year ago so my experience is fairly recent. You are so right in saying that not everyone has the luxury of having dream jobs in dream locations, in the real world, we go where the work is and this is also what took us very reluctantly to India. I have great memories of our time there, made lifelong friends and loved India. India is initially very hard work though. Most everything the other posters said about it is very true. Every expat I knew there, found it hard. Some stayed some gave up and went home but MOSt after the first year found it doable. With a few planned short holidays to take you out for a quick breath of fresh air, and there are plenty of nearby holiday destinations, a good group of friends to occupy your days whilst the kids are away. Personally, we as a family decided to accept life in India as it was and not compare it to what we were used to. We had a great house, maids, driver, cook and most importantly, a job! What really did we have to complain about? After the initial few months of the shock to all your senses, we were all quite used to it all. Kids and I were complaining less and less with each passing month :) Expat communities are very tight and keep you busy especially if you belong to the ASB community. My 3 kids had been in the British system all their life and found ASB (US system) fantastic. If I'm not mistaken, ASB is also one of the few schools in all India that offer IB. And YES, its VERY very expensive. Cost of living is very high there overall. Shopping is great!! Also, Yes, its very dirty and extreme poverty is everywhere but poverty is a very real fact of life. Just because we are shielded from it in Dubai and most of the western world, doesn't mean its not there! I would not go back for another stint but I am very glad that my children and I had that amazing 2 years to experience India, the bad and good. Opened their rose tinted eyes up to the real world and made us all appreciative of the little things in life. So if the offer is really good, do it. India is truly incredible, wish I had had more time to have seen more of it. <em>edited by toots on 10/03/2013</em>

Beef is sold in abundance, you name you cut n you get it! Supermarkets don't stock beef as most people go directly to the butchers, fresh beef, lamb and pork. I am from Mumbai... Living now in dxb. Loads of big supermarkets which sell lots of imported foodstuff, but limited choices n expensive, local brands are good. Tampons are available since over 20 years :) lol Dirt, dust, noise.... Yes, loads of it but all my Expat friends who lived there loved it. Poverty is very visible, but hey, only in dubai we do not see the homeless sleeping on the streets. Water is abundant and cheap while electricity could get expensive but when I compare it to dxb, lot cheaper. Tap water is fine to drink but best to get a filter. Rentals would be expensive for expats but still cheaper then dxb and you get mainly apartments. Lots of taxi services and you can call for one. Traffic is mad... Plan 2 hours in advance always... Lots of work on roads n flyovers still. Healthcare, can't go wrong there.... Very good. Hmmm!!! Lots of fine dining n night life... Education is good lots of variety with schools. National language is hindi but with its multicultural background, English is spoken n understood.

Hi TimTam Healthcare is pretty good. I know quite a few people who have had their babies in Mumbai and been very happy. Dentistry can also be very good and economical, you just have to pick and choose where you go (like anywhere). Hirandani Hospital in Powai is quite new and very modern and I am sure there are plenty of others. One thing to bear in mind is that ambulances are all private and nothing like you will have seen before. They do not have medical profesionals accompanying them and in an emergency it is possible you would have too look after the patient yourself on a journey in one. Hospitals also frequently demand payment up front, especially in an emergency and so it is always best to have cash in the house for such a possibility. It was one of my concerns, because unless you have 24 hour driver cover, at night you may not have any transport of your own. In our case, the provided car had to be taken back to the leasing company pound to be locked away and so was not available to us unless we has specifically requested that the driver work. The best solution would be to negotiate two drivers, so that you have a vehicle available 24 hours 7 days a week. The only school I really know about is the American School and it is very nice. I have only visited it once, but I have friends whose children still attend and they are very pleased with it. I believe the standard of education is high and its facilities are good. Another point I didn't mention before is that security in Mumbai is very tight. This became even more so after the Mumbai bombings. You will be body searched before going into larger shops and malls and hotels, unless they have a scanner. Your bag will be searched every time too. Sometimes in malls you will be searched again before you enter a shop. I feel I must reply to the beef response of before (sorry) I never found a shop that sold beef, they sell a cut called tenderloin and call it beef. It is the fillet of a waterbuffalo, it is not bad, but is not cow beef as we know it. I personally don't like it, as it is very gamey. I did once have real beef in the Royal Meridien Hotel, but they import this by 'special' means and it is not a regular product, or wasn't when I was there. Also note that they sell lamb, this is goat 'lamb', not sheep lamb and although perfectly fine, does not taste the same and cooks very differently. I'm on a role now, remembering things (I did enjoy my time in Mumbai, miss it and would return if the opportunity arose). Most homes do not have an oven, I pursuaded my landlady to get me one, which was a free standing gas type, 21 inches wide!!! Most of my friends made do with toaster ovens. Tap water is not really safe to drink or cook with, but most homes have a filter directly on the kitchen tap. This must be changed regularly. By the time I moved to Delhi I knew more about this and had a reverse osmosis water filter installed in my kitchen, which was great. Water delivery is easily available. Mosquitoes are a big problem, with dengue fever being more common than malaria. In response to Persepolis message, our apartment was more expensive than her friends (company paid thank goodness) and although very nice, I wouldn't call ours luxury. Air conditioning tends to be splits not central and they break down a lot. There are frequent problems with mould, due to the climate and water supply can be patchy during monsoon. I hope I am not putting you off; although Mumbai is not an easy place to live, it is interesting, exciting, challenging and a real eye opener, altogether an amazing experience. <em>edited by Kaydee on 09/03/2013</em>

Hi, a friend of mine lived in Mumbai for a year as an American diplomat. She had a v luxurious lifestyle (apt for USD90k rent per year) but did find the poverty disturbing and said it was a difficult place to live.

My australian friend delivered her baby in India. Not sure where..but she said it was great.

You do get beef in India.It's only the Hindus who generally don't eat beef, and since India has a large population of Christians and Muslims,beef is available in shops and hotels.

Some facts about fairly recent expat life in Mumbai: There are many expats living in Mumbai who will welcome and assist you once you are there. There is not a specific 'expat' area, although many newcomers move to the suburb of Powai in the north of the city. This seems to be due to the availability of quite good housing and location to many offices. Housing of 'expat' standard is extremely expensive (much more than Dubai), but usualy payable monthly; however, there is often a deposit required of 12 months rent upfront. Most expats live in apartments; villas/houses are thin on the ground. Electricity is very expensive and can be patchy. Most buildings have a generator as well as mains power. Internet can be cheap and good as long as you avoid the goverment providers, who are very expensive and poor quality.. Satelite TV is pretty good and very cheap. Mumbai has more 'dry' days per year than Dubai. It is a no-smoking city, much more so than Dubai, by law you cannot even sit outside at a cafe for a smoke. It is very polluted, with the weather often being mentioned as 'smoke'. It is hot all year round, even during monsoon. You will most likely be provided with a car and driver; most expats don't drive due to the traffic, which is pretty bad. Companies often provide a driver (for expats) so that their employees can work on the way to and from the office. Office hours are very long, regardless of what is stated on the contract. The office probably won't start until 9am, but very unusual to finish before 6, often with a one/two hour commute each way. Most employees won't leave the office until after the boss has left, this is expected. Tuktuks are a great way to get around for short distances. Supermarkets are available, but large ones are few and far between. The availability of imported goods is patchy. You can't buy tampons in India. There is no beef in India (plenty of p*rk though) There is plenty of opportunity to do charity work; this is a mainstay of many expat women's lives. Mumbai has a huge amount of slums, it is also home to the most expensive house in the world. It is a very happy place, with the most interesting cultures and every opportunity to view them at first hand. Holi is magical, as is Diwali. The national language of India is English and in Mumbai it is unusual for locals to not speak at least some, whatever station in life. Slumdog Millionaire is surprisingly accurate!!! Just a few things to think about, but happy to try and answer any questions. <em>edited by Kaydee on 08/03/2013</em>

http://www.indiamike.com/india/moving-to-mumbai-f101/ http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=169 http://www.alloexpat.com/india_expat_forum/mumbai-expat-forum-mumbai-expatriates-living-f103.html

You couldn't pay me to go back to India. DH was transferred there for a year in 2010 and I went with him not to Mumbai but Delhi. The culture shock was tremendous. Filthy, dusty, disorganized, crowded beyond belief but worse of all is the abject poverty. Poverty beyond my imagination. I have memories from there that will always haunt me. I felt like **** just doing everyday things when you see a woman and her children lain on the street dogs sniffing at their backs, children literally in rags. Grown men with bodies like children dragging weights in carts across the street ten times their size. Police abusing their power with nary an objection. Every time you stop at a red light pathetic beggars knocking at your window. Children begging at every turn. I saw a kid literally naked in the street once. Dogs so lethargic and hungry they just litter the streets like corpses. It was an eye-opening experience. I have to say the Indian people were amongst the friendliest and kindest that I had the pleasure of meeting. That's amazing to me. To live in that kind of atmosphere and have such big hearts where some people in so-called first world countries can come across so ungrateful and cruel.

What amazes me is that people who don't have a clue, pose their so-called advice as facts, rather then an opinion. Anyway, for me personally, I would have never wanted to live in Dubai. Would have chosen India and Mumbai over Dubai any time. Currently making the best of a not so good situation. And it works. I'm happy, doing things I'd never dreamt of doing (like being on EW, going to coffee mornings, malls, having my nails done, basically being a Jumeirah Jane). My friends are stunned. So I wish you all the best in your decision making. Do let us know if you move. Good luck.

Tim Tam, I never lived in Mumbai, but neither have most other posters who replied. So after reading all their negatives, here's my 2 cents of advice. I have travelled the world, business, pleasure as well as an expat. Never have I been so culture shocked as when I landed in Delhi, 20 years ago. After the initial shock we had the best holiday (6 weeks) ever. Surely that is no comparison for living there, but we did seriously consider moving to Bangelore 6 years ago. The job fell through, but if it hadn't, we would have moved. In the end it is all about you and your family. What do you need to make you happy. How flexible are you, are you capable of making the best of a not so good situation. Your husband may not be a CEO, his company may very well be able to provide good living and schooling. As with the crowds and traffic, you'll get used to it (most women on this forum are afraid even to drive here in Dubai, says more about them then about the traffic here IMO). So go for a visit, thoroughly discuss the company's package and conditions, and if you think your family is up for it, take the plunge.

Haven't lived there permanent as expat...but spent considerable time working on a project (6 months during a period of 9 months,i.e. 3 weeks in a row, 6 weeks in a row, 5 weeks in a row etc). I agree with previous posters....do NOT even think about moving there BEFORE you have visited yourself ! This place is SOOOO DIFFERENT to anything else I had seen before (and that was a lot). Traffic is horrendous, even if it is not raining, clean is something you will (almost) never find, for a decent apartment you will pay a fortune and even a bigger fortune if it needs to be next to workplace/school etc etc. My boss asked me if I want to move there permanently.....my reply was "your budget will never be enough to make me move there" (maybe that is not 100% true.....everybody has a price....but it would need A LOT OF MORE $$$ to convince me to move there....) Bottom line - visit and think very long and hard what you will be up for !!

Nothing concrete, DH says if you visit you won't want to move there! Great! Have seen Amazing Race and Idiot abroad... By all means I would go and have a look, but what choice really do you have if your other half wants the job? My biggest concern is DS changing from GCSE to IB? Other option is to go back to my home country with the kids. Listen to him - he is telling the truth!

So many people looking at the thread, there must be someone else that has lived there! I think people are reading this thread with shock and horror. Lol! Surely there must be jobs in Singapore or Hong Kong in your DH's industry?

You will need to live next door to your chosen (***) school. Traffic is so bad, that it can take 3 hours for an 8 minute journey. Monkeys are mean there.

We were also considering to move there but at the end decided not to. If we didn't have kids we probably would but with 3 small kids we thought its not so wise. Major reason:safety, especially if you are european-white skin, poverty (whenever I go to sleep I see street children in my eyes),its not clean-dust beans+toilets are not so common, horrible traffic. I love to visit the city but always happy to return to Dubai :)

Get yourself a copy of the Amazing Race with the Mumbai episodes. A real eye opener for me it was, I was shocked tbh (and I am not easily shocked) <em>edited by Alismum on 07/03/2013</em>

I did for two years. No children with me, but most of my friends children attended The American School of Bombay. As far as I am aware, there is no British school in Mumbai. A good place to start looking is http://www.mumbaiconnexions.com/ I left there two years ago to live in Delhi for a year and am now in Saudi. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

I love Bombay. it's so buzzing & lively and there is so much history and nice architecture etc. TimTam have you been for a visit? :)

Hey, let's make her feel good about the new job ? However I would also add - do not even consider Mumbai if you have never been there!

Have you ever been to Mumbai yourself? Why would you want to live there?