Mumbaikars open homes to bed-and-breakfast scheme

“Our Nigerian guest loves the spicy Punjabi dishes that are cooked in our house,” says Anjana Malhotra, a resident of Andheri (East). “But the new ones from South Africa prefer bland food.”

The Malhotras are playing host to six tourists —- three from South Africa, one from China, one from Nigeria, and one from Australia. They are one of 15 families in the city that are welcoming foreign guests into their homes under the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation’s bed-and-breakfast scheme.

Noor Deen from Benny, an island 80km off Nigeria, is staying with the Malhotras for the past four months. Deen is pursuing a course in film editing at the Digital Academy, Andheri (East). “My friends stayed with this family when they came to Mumbai. So I also decided to stay here. I feel totally at home with them,” he says.

Malhotra first registered with the home-stay scheme of the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) in 1989. ITDC started the initiative in four cities — Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta and Chennai — and gradually expanded it, handing it over to the respective state tourism departments.

“My brother stayed with a family when he went to visit London,” says Malhotra’s husband Tejinder Pal Singh. “He loved the concept and asked us to check if anything similar is offered in India. Since then we have catered to tourists from every part of the world.” The Malhotras started with a fare of Rs125 a day inclusive of breakfast. Today, they charge Rs2,500.

“Most of our guests are keen to know more about Indian culture and manners,” says Malhotra. “We make sure they are involved in our daily activities.”

The tourists can cook their own meals or ask the cook to make what they like. “Recently, we told a tourist from London that we do not cook non-vegetarian food during Navratri,” says Malhotra. “She not only agreed to eat vegetarian food, but also actively participated in all our rituals.”

But the job does not end with playing the good host. Thorough police verification is mandatory for all tourists. “We have to fill out Form C with the passport and visa details of the tourist and proof of residence from their country,” says Amogh Patkar, who also welcomes tourists at his house in Jogeshwari Niwas, Matunga (East). “We also collect
proof of the reason for their stay in India.”

But the tourist traffic depends on the location of the house. For instance, families in Andheri and Juhu get a lot of foreign tourists, while those residing in other areas get more Indian ones.

“We generally get people from Delhi, Kolkata, or Bangalore who come to visit the city and want to stay in a homely environment,” says Gobind Singh, who has registered his house at Wadia Estate in Kurla (West) under the scheme.