Built on the Arabian Sea with a population more than twice that of New York City, Mumbai is a breathless, pulsing 21st-century metropolis where the realities of modern India are laid bare. The slums of the urban poor greet you the minute you leave the airport, eventually giving way to gleaming skyscrapers and bustling shopping districts. Yet somehow this jarring contrast forms part of Mumbai’s rough-edged charisma. Join the locals for sunset and bhelpuri on Chaupati Beach, maybe even a game of pickup cricket with some street scamps. Back by the colonial-era Gateway of India, take tea at the landmark Taj Mahal Palace hotel with the coiffured urban yuppies who’ve helped Mumbai stake its claim on Forbes ’ list of cities with the most Millionaires. As with travel throughout India, Mumbai is a place to absorb life in all its messy, vivid glory.