A kids’ guide to Mumbai – Explore the world

This article, A kids’ guide to Mumbai, is for native English speakers and learners of English as a second or foreign language. It can help children practise reading and comprehension, learn new vocabulary, and discover fun facts about Mumbai, one of India’s busiest and most exciting cities. Written by Sinead O’Carroll, a writer and English teacher.

An introduction to Mumbai

Mumbai is a huge coastal city in western India. It sits on the Arabian Sea and is known for its bright lights, busy streets, and colourful festivals. Millions of people live and work in Mumbai, making it one of the most energetic and exciting cities in the world.

Facts about Mumbai

• Country: India
• Currency: Indian Rupee
• Languages: Hindi, English and Marathi (the official state language)
• Flag: India’s flag has saffron, white and green stripes with a navy blue wheel in the centre
• National animal of India: Bengal tiger
• State Capital: Mumbai is also the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra.

What’s Mumbai famous for?

Mumbai is famous for its huge film industry, known as Bollywood, which makes more movies each year than any other city on Earth. The city is also known for its colonial-era buildings, busy markets, delicious street food and beautiful sea views. The local train system is one of the busiest in the world, carrying millions of passengers daily.

Cool places to visit in Mumbai

The Gateway of India

This grand stone arch stands by the waterfront and is one of the city’s most recognisable landmarks. It was completed over 100 years ago and was built to mark the visit of King George V to India in 1911, when he came for his coronation as Emperor of India.

Marine Drive

This long, curved seaside road is known as the “Queen’s Necklace” because the lights shine like a necklace at night. It is a popular place for families to walk and watch the sunset.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT)

This historic railway station looks almost like a palace. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is famous for its beautiful Gothic architecture.

What’s on the menu?

Mumbai is known for its tasty street food, and many dishes are vegetarian because a large number of people in India choose not to eat meat.

• Vada pav is a popular snack made of spicy mashed potato coated in batter and tucked inside a soft bread bun.
  
• Pav bhaji is a thick, buttery vegetable curry served with warm, toasted bread.
  
• Jalebi is a bright orange sweet made by frying batter into curly shapes and dipping it in sugary syrup.

Fresh fruit is sold everywhere in Mumbai, especially in local markets.

What do people wear in Mumbai?

People in Mumbai wear a mix of modern clothing and traditional outfits. Many women wear saris, long colourful pieces of fabric wrapped beautifully around the body. Men sometimes wear kurta shirts, especially during festivals. 

Casual clothes like jeans and T-shirts are common in everyday life too.

Fun facts about Mumbai

Mumbai was once made up of seven separate islands that were joined together over many years.

Dabbawalas are workers in Mumbai who deliver home-cooked lunches from people’s houses to their offices. They move hundreds of thousands of lunchboxes around the city each day and are famous for getting nearly every delivery right.

Bollywood produces over a thousand films each year.

The city is home to Sanjay Gandhi National Park, one of the largest tropical urban forests in the world.

Mumbai’s taxis were once famous for their black-and-yellow colours, which are still seen today.

The city never truly sleeps, with markets and places staying busy late into the night.

Article vocabulary list

• Coastal – located near the sea.
• Energetic – full of activity and movement.
• Industry – a group of businesses that make or produce something.
• Architecture – the style or design of buildings.
• UNESCO – an organisation that protects places of cultural or natural importance.
• Curry – a spiced dish often eaten in India.
• Fabric – material used to make clothes.
• Tropical – found in warm, humid parts of the world.
• Vegetarian – food that contains no meat or fish.
• Landmark – a famous or easy-to-recognise building or place.

Comprehension questions

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