Essentials: Mumbai

1) Mumbai is the center of the Indian film industry. Every year, over 1,000 films are made in Bollywood (a combination of Hollywood and Bombay). Many of them are made in Film City, which borders on the jungle. It is not uncommon for leopards to drop by during filming.

2) Up to 130,000 flamingos from all over the world fly to Mumbai from October to March – no one knows exactly why. Perhaps because the locals always give the pink birds a warm welcome?

3) Englishwoman Alice Tredwell made history in 1863, when she built the Mumbai-Pune railroad line. She was the wife of railroad entrepreneur Solomon Tredwell – and the first woman to work in India’s construction industry.

4) Meals on wheels: A network of lunchbox couriers delivers more than 200,000 lunchboxes every day in Mumbai. Dabbawallas have been a part of the Indian metropolis for more than 100 years.

5) Mumbai is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the caves on Elephanta Island, the historic Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railroad station, and the Victorian Gothic and art deco ensembles in the financial and art district of Fort.