| Ancient yet modern, fabulously rich yet achingly
poor, Mumbai is India in microcosm. Once a sultry tropical
archipelago of seven islands, and the Raj's brightest jewel, Mumbai
was the dowry of Portuguese Princess Infanta Catherine de Braganza
who married Charles II of England in 1661. Today it's a teeming
metropolis, commercial hub of an old civilization seeking to find
its place in the New World Order. Forty
percent of India's taxes come from this city alone, and half of
India's international trade passes through its splendid natural
harbour. In fact Mumbai is the very soul of human enterprise. At the
city's Stock Exchange, millionaires and paupers are made overnight,
and the sidewalks are crowded with vendors hawking everything from
ballpoint pens to second hand mixies. Everyday, half of Mumbai's
population commutes from far-flung suburbs to downtown offices,
banks, factories and mills for a living.
Nearly thirteen million people live here - wealthy
industrialists, flashy film stars, internationally acclaimed
artists, workers, teachers and clerks - all existing cheek by jowl
in soaring skyscrapers and sprawling slums. They come from diverse
ethnic backgrounds and speak over a dozen tongues adding colour,
flaHvour and texture to the Great Mumbai Melting Pot.
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