Mumbai's Culture and Lifestyle

The city of Mumbai is full of diversity and cultures that combine both the old and the new. The people from Mumbai are also known as Mumbaikar. They live a life filled with activities. The people of Mumbai enjoy movies; especially Bollywood movies which is basically Hindi cinema. It is only a part of the total Indian film industry. It is said that Bollywood is like a religion.

In addition to the movie experience, Mumbaikars enjoy dining in their free time as well. A typical Mumbai platter consists of curd, vegetables, salads, rice, curries, sweets, etc. A traditional dish is the most-preferred meal since it contains many diet elements of an individual. The cuisine is what brings many people together but so does the annual festivals that are celebrated city-wide and sometimes nationally too. One of the most important festival in Mumbai is the Ganesha Chaturthi. It usually falls between August 20th and September 15th and lasts for ten days. This festival celebrates the birthday of Lord Ganesha, the half elephant and half human deity. The people of Mumbai celebrate with great enthusiasm all around the streets of the city and place an idol of Lord Ganesha in locations along the streets and in resident homes where it is worshiped for a few days. Traditions may consists of festivals and cuisine but it is also about daily routines that Mumbaikars carry out. For example, normally the residents of Mumbai tend to be barefoot throughout their home and if shoes are worn usually they are sandals.

Cricket is another recreational activity that the people from Mumbai enjoy as well. Cricket is a bat and ball team sport. Its appearance looks something like baseball. It is the most popular sport in India however it is not the nation's official national sport. Around every corner one may see children playing out on the streets enjoying a warm afternoon. 

Cricket

Cricket on the streets

Apart from activities done during the residents free time, they also perform yoga as a form of relaxation. Yoga refers to physical and mental disciplines that originated in India. It is an ancient science, which leads to a peaceful mind, blissful heart, liberated soul, and healthy body. Yoga brings many health benefits such as relieving stress, helpful in chronic backache, and gives a better control in mind. It also increases productivity for those who practice yoga. 

These points covered have dealt with everyday life or what happens out of the work environment. In a work place certain characteristics are put into play to also better the productivity of a company's workers. Airfilters or purifiers are sometimes installed in some companies to help with the thick, smog type of air that is found in Mumbai. Also mosquito nets sometimes are placed in certain areas to help workers carry out their daily tasks due to the large number of mosquitoes that aggravate the people of Mumbai. Furthermore, specific materials are implemented into furniture and design to reduce the mold that may occur due to the high humidity levels of Mumbai. 

Landor Office - Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

28 Dr E Borges Road, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

               The actual site where the Landor Office is located is specifically in Lower Parel in Mumbai, India. It’s an area where many hospitals, educational buildings, and the old mill work companies are located. Such buildings include the Gandhi Hospital, Morarjee Gokuldas Mills, the United India Mills, Sakarbai Hospital for Animals, Collaborative Architecture, Dr. Sirodhkar High School, and The College of Physicians & Surgeons. It is a very populated and cramped area indicating that there is only a limited amount of space that can be worked with. In addition if any new construction were to happen in the surrounding area, it would probably be the improvements to the closed down mill work company buildings. However, since those areas are being recycled by just being reused, no major territory changes shall affect the Landor Office vicinity.

Parel, Mumbai

           Mumbai, or formerly known as Bombay, is identified as the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is a city with approximately 14 million people, making it the second most populous city in the world, but the most populous city in India. Its neighboring urban areas include the cities of Navi Mumbai and Thane. 

           Mumbai lies on the west coast of India. Many parts of the city lie just above sea level, with elevations ranging from 33 ft to 49 ft. The city also lies on a seismically active zone. The area is classified as a Seismic Zone III region, meaning that an earthquake of up to a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter-scale may be expected.            
            Mumbai has a tropical climate. It is made up of a tropical wet and dry climate, with seven months of dryness and a vast amount of rainfall in July. The cold season begins in the month of December and lasts until the month of February. It’s followed by the summer season lasting from March to June. The south-west monsoon season occurs during the month of June and lasts until the end of September. The post-monsoon season lasts from October until the month of November.

           The city of Mumbai consists of two distinct regions: Mumbai City district and Mumbai Suburban district. The city district region is also commonly referred to as the Island City or South Mumbai. It is a city that is mixed with many cultures and a blend of traditional festivals, foods, music, and theatres due to the city being a major trading center. In this region you find many suburbs such as Parel or Lower Parel which is considered the central part of Mumbai. Recently, Parel is home to many huge enterprises such as new five star hotels and well-known hospitals that are replacing the old mill work companies that used to make up most of the suburban area. Mumbai suffers from some major urbanization problems such as poverty and unemployment, poor public health and poor civic and educational standards for a large section of the population. The city offers little space for sometimes expensive housing which are far from workplaces more than half the time. This requires long commutes and overcrowded transit areas. However, residents are now pushing into the lower parts of Mumbai around the Parel area. With the new additions arriving to Parel, it has become an area where lower middle class and higher middle class can live adjacent to one another. 

Map of India (Red = Maharashtra State)

Map of Maharashtra (Red = City of Mumbai)   

Map of Mumbai & Suburbs (Red = Lower Parel)

Map of Mumbai & Districts