6 Things to Know about studying in Mumbai

Mumbai, India’s most populous city and also its financial capital is home to numerous prestigious universities, including the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) - which ranked second in India in the QS World University Rankings 2023.

Mumbai attracts thousands of students from all over India for higher education. Here are six things you should know about studying in Mumbai.

Locals Locals Locals!

The term “locals” refers to the local trains or the Mumbai Suburban railway system. Most, if not all of your transportation will involve these trains as the locals are:

• Very fast: Mumbai has some of the worst traffic in the whole world. Getting a cab or the bus is thus quite frustrating and not as swift, especially for long distances.
• Extremely affordable: You can traverse the entire city length (about 40km) at a meagre cost of just 10 rupees (about 13 cents). 

These two reasons make the local trains extremely important to Mumbaikars, exemplified by the fact that roughly 7.5 million people use these local trains daily. These trains are thus considered the lifeline of Mumbai. So, get acquainted with these as soon as you can. A good place to start would be to peruse the free mobile application m-Indicator which provides information about time schedules as well as the platform where a specific local train will arrive.

Public libraries and more

Most universities in Mumbai have dedicated libraries where one can borrow books or study in peace. However, in case the need arises, Mumbai has several public libraries too, including the Asiatic Library, the British council library, David Sassoon library and so on.

Apart from the libraries, you can also buy used textbooks at low costs at numerous locations in Mumbai. Such book stores are commonly found near major railway stations, such as the Churchgate station.

Beautiful beaches, national parks and a lot more

Are you exhausted by all that studying? Mumbai has several tourist attractions you can visit when you want some downtime.

• Being a coastal city, Mumbai has its fair share of beaches, such as the Chowpatty beach, Juhu beach and many more.
• Iconic UNESCO World Heritage sites, such as the Victorian and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai, the Elephanta Caves, and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus attract thousands of people each day; with the latter being a consequential railway station.
• Sanjay Gandhi national park is a popular wildlife conservation site that attracts as many as 2 million people each year to witness the marvellous fauna and flora of India. 
• Gateway of India: A symbolic monument located right along the southern edges of the city is one of the prime tourist locations.  

Public parks and other leisure activities

Apart from the national park, several smaller public parks are available for public use, such as the Joseph Baptista Gardens (Mazagaon hill), the Hanging Gardens of Malabar hill, Jogger’s park in Bandra and so on. Some of these parks, such as the Mazagaon hill have dedicated regions for students where one can relax and study.

Dazzling malls for all your fashion needs

There are a large number of shopping centres available for all your fashion needs whether you’re looking for cosmopolitan malls or inexpensive shopping complexes.  

• Malls such as High street Phoenix; Lower Parel, Oberoi mall; Goregaon and so on
• Shopping complexes such as Fashion street; Churchgate, Linking road; Santacruz and so on

The iconic Vadapav and other mouth-watering food

India has one of the world’s most diverse cuisines, with Mumbai having access to virtually all of these cuisines and a lot more from thousands of restaurants all across the city. There are also dedicated eatery complexes colloquially known as khau galli, such as Carter Road or the Mahim khau galli where you can find several food stalls with a variety of food. The iconic Vada pav – a staple food for several commuters can be found virtually everywhere, especially in the stalls next to railway stations.