Mumbai in 3 days

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (छत्रपती शिवाजी महाराज टर्मिनस — UNESCO World Heritage — 1888, architect Frederick William Stevens, Victorian Gothic style on a scale unseen outside Europe: the stone tracery, the carved grotesques, the pointed arches, the central dome topped with a figure of Progress (a female figure holding a torch aloft) — a building so overwhelming that when it was used as a backdrop in the 2008 terrorist attack it appeared in world media as a generic "India" background that nobody could identify. The 7 million passengers per day make it the busiest railway station in Asia and one of the busiest in the world. Go at rush hour (9–10am) to see the crowds.

Dharavi (धारावी — the 2.1 km² area in the center of Mumbai, home to approximately 1 million people, one of the most densely populated places on earth: the dharavi slum is simultaneously the largest slum in Asia and a functioning micro-economy generating ₹65 billion (€700 million) per year from leather tanning, pottery, textiles, plastics recycling and food production. A guided tour (Reality Tours and Travel — the ethical tour operator that returns 80% of profits to Dharavi schools and community projects, ₹800) walks through the production zones and residential lanes with a resident guide who explains the community from the inside.

Bandra (the "Queen of the Suburbs" — the suburb north of Worli that is simultaneously the most desirable residential address in Mumbai (Shah Rukh Khan's Mannat mansion, Salman Khan's Galaxy Apartments) and a neighborhood of the finest restaurants, cafés and the Bandstand Promenade (the 1km seafront walkway past the celebrity houses): the Taj Land's End hotel at the tip of the Bandra Headland gives the finest view of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link (2010 — the cable-stayed bridge across the Mahim Bay, the most iconic modern infrastructure project in Mumbai) from its terrace.

Vada pav (वडा पाव — the Mumbai street food: a spiced and deep-fried potato dumpling (vada) in a small bread roll (pav) with green chilli, dried garlic chutney (the crucial component — made from dried Kashmiri chilli, garlic and coconut, deep red and intensely aromatic), and fresh coriander chutney. Ashok Vada Pav (Vile Parle — the most famous vada pav stall in Mumbai, the one where the queue never ends) or any of the 10,000+ vada pav carts across the city. ₹15–25 per vada pav — the finest and cheapest meal in India.

Chor Bazaar (चोर बाजार — "Thieves' Market", Mutton Street, Dharavi Road — the oldest flea market in Mumbai, established 1869, with 150+ shops selling (or reselling) Art Deco furniture from the 1930s Bombay apartments being demolished, Bollywood film posters from the 1960s, Dutch colonial silverware, gramophone records, Ganesh figurines in every possible size and material, and the beautiful broken detritus of 200 years of urban life in one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. The name "Chor Bazaar" (literally "Thieves' Market") comes from the colonial British dismissal of the market as selling stolen goods — or from the Urdu word "shor" (noise/crowd) mispronounced by British officers.

Dhobi Ghat (धोबी घाट — Mahalaxmi, central Mumbai — the open-air laundry where 5,000 washermen (dhobi — the laundry caste) have washed the clothes of Mumbai's hotels, hospitals and households since the 1890s: 1,026 wash pens (concrete troughs, each with its own "flogging stone") in the Mahalaxmi ghat, where clothes are soaked, beaten against the stone, rinsed and hung to dry on thousands of clotheslines. The best view: from the Mahalaxmi bridge or railway bridge (free, pedestrian walkway), looking down at the mosaic of colored fabric and the rhythmic beating of cloth.

A Bollywood film at a PVR multiplex (the largest cinema chain in India) or a single-screen art deco cinema (the Regal in Colaba (1933 — the finest Art Deco cinema in India, now closed for renovation; the Sterling or the Eros are still operating): Bollywood films in their home city, in Hindi (subtitled in English at some screenings, though the emotions require no translation), with the interval (the 15-minute break at the halfway point of every Indian film — mandatory, as Bollywood films are 2.5–3 hours — during which samosas, chai and popcorn are sold in the lobby).

Pav bhaji (पाव भाजी — the Mumbai street classic: a thick spiced vegetable mash (bhaji — potatoes, tomatoes, onions, capsicum, peas, cauliflower and butter, all mashed together with the pav bhaji masala spice blend and a very generous quantity of butter (Amul butter — the Indian dairy cooperative butter)) served with soft rolls (pav) toasted on the same butter-coated griddle. Sardar Pav Bhaji (Tardeo Road — the most famous pav bhaji restaurant in Mumbai, established 1950s, always a queue) — the butter is obscene, the bhaji is perfect, the price is ₹80–120.