Suketu Mehta, the author of the book was born in Calcutta, India. He then moved to Bombay, now called Mumbai, and then left for New York when he was fourteen. Mehta got accustomed to life as a New Yorker, but felt that his kids were missing out on some of the Indian traditions he grew up with. So, he packs his bags, brings his wife and children with him to live in the burgeoning and over-crowded city of Mumbai.

Adjusting to a New Life in Mumbai

Mehta lands in Mumbai very excited to live an Indian life with his family. His wife seems less excited, but she is supportive of her husband's decisions nonetheless. His son is nervous as he does not speak his mother tongue Gujarati, nor the national language, Hindi. Mehta soon discovers that there is no such thing as privacy in Mumbai. Buildings are laid close together; windows overlook other people's houses, and hundreds of thousands of men, women and children lead their lives outside, including showering and doing all the basic things every human being needs to do. The author also discovers that as much as people are polite in Mumbai, it takes a long time for work to get done as gas companies, cable companies, etc, are often late to appointments or are never available when needed. However, he soon finds an apartment that he likes and gets his life set up. Then comes the part of finding his son a school, adjusting to the neighbors and figuring out that in Mumbai, a person's connections mean everything.