Well... glad you enjoyed. Since you asked, talking about how great Bangalore is, is one of my favourite topics 😊 My personal opinion, though only based on more limited time of living there: Bangalore is a better place to live than both Delhi and Mumbai, primarily for the weather which is probably the best of nearly any city in the world, but also because of its slightly more relaxed nature than both.

The general consensus is that lawyers and clients are fairly professional and competent in Bangalore (helped by the vibrant tech industry), but that the pace of life and hours can be a bit more relaxed in the law firms (though not in every firm!).

And if you want to do litigation it won't be as exciting as Delhi and can be difficult for an outsider to penetrate, and if you want to do finance, there'll be more in Bombay (and Delhi) also. But lots of good corporate / PE / VC work (perhaps even better than in Mumbai and Delhi) can be had in Bangalore these days. In terms of law firms, the city also has quite a few boutique corporate / VC firms with good clients and culture, and many of the big firms have offices there but it is overall still a much smaller legal market with fewer available jobs.

Pay is usually a bit less on average but costs of living are a bit lower too, with good flats available for rent.

And the pub scene is still fantastic and better than any other city in India (if you're ok with the slightly early closing times). There's also decent culture, food and other entertainments on offer, and for the most part the locals and the many migrants are said to be very welcoming, perhaps even more so than Mumbai (?).

Of course, the thing pretty much everyone hates about Bangalore is the traffic (and rightly so if you ever have to travel during rush hour at all). The only solution is if you can afford living near to your workplace or are lucky enough for your commute to be doable via the limited metro network (which is rare).

Alternatively, if your workplace is amenable to WFH for longer, Bangalore might be one of the most pleasant places to live.

As cheap as Gokul, no, probably not... 😿

Not sure what the pandemic situation is but in more normal times, 4S in Def Col is fairly cheap, slightly Gokul-esque in its vibe (as much as possible in Delhi) and popular with lawyers and journos. There are also some other cheap hole in the wall dive bars, probably around touristy Paharganj and around CP you may find some too, but generally not the quantity and not the charm of what's available in Mumbai. Most Delhi lawyers' nights out therefore seem to revolve around going to more fancy bars, or if on the cheap, going to people's houses.

If it's just about value for money, some good happy hour deals can may be had in some Hauz Khaz Village bars or some other operations dotted around the city in many of the markets, though many will look more commercial and less charming than the dive bar institutions you might be missing from Mumbai.

If you got the contacts, Gymkhanas and other of the oldschool private members' clubs are obviously cheap as chips but those are obviously far cries from Gokul too.

Good luck, may we all be having outdoor drinks again soon!

Both are wonderful cities in many ways and also horrible in a few different ways. 🧐

Which one you might end up liking more is going to be very much personality driven and a very subjective choice. Both cities can be hard to live in if you don't like cities, and not just Mumbai but also Delhi is a maximum city, albeit with very different styles: Mumbai is sprawling and dense, yet also a cosy village in parts with bonus sea views. Delhi is open, spread out, with more parks and monuments and ancient history but also more concrete with a residential colony type structure.

As for work, it's said Mumbai is generally by default a bit more 'gentlemanly' or professional, whereas Delhi can be a bit more cut and thrust in its approach to working, though you'll obviously find that depends greatly on where you work and whom you work with.

And if you like hanging around with litigation types, you'll meet many more in Delhi: you can't swing a cat in a Delhi bar without risking hitting an advocate.

Since the positives will be very subjective and will depend on all sorts of factors of chance, like the friends you'll make and the places you live, I'll point out a few (also subjective) potential issues for many people that spring to mind that could be deal breakers and might help your choice:
- physiology: what is less pleasant for you? Delhi dry heat (with a few months of pretty cold winter) or Mumbai wet heat (with a few months of balmy pleasant winter weather)?
- your lungs: will your health be able to take the annual infamous Delhi pollution that also continues low grade through most of the year but peaks in winter forcing those with health issues to flee or suffer and others to hide indoors with blasting air purifiers and venture outdoors with (non-pandemic) face masks.
- sweaty limited public transport lines (Mumbai) vs air conditioned pretty decent metro network (Delhi), though both have the cabapps obviously these days.
- women's safety: realistically in Delhi the odds of 'stranger danger' sexual violence against a somewhat privileged lawyer working in a law firm or the courts are low in any individual case, though media attention and infamous historical events plus the perception some people have of the city can make it a scarier place than it has to be, and while Mumbai is not immune of course, it can subjective feel a little safer and more welcoming to some women, anecdotally.
- road traffic in Mumbai, nearly always bad to horrible. In Delhi, sometimes bad but often bearable.
- rental: Mumbai flats are smaller and more expensive, Delhi can comparatively be luxurious for the same price.
- Delhi social life can be a tiny bit more cliquey with old Delhi networks being harder to get into, while Mumbai can be more welcoming to newcomers and migrants, but your mileage will obviously vary.

Of course these lists are far from exhaustive and not everyone will agree, but that's the point: in many ways you won't know until you try, it's going to be a very individual choice, though it's nearly certain that you'll get interesting, memorable and meaningful life and work experiences in either city. And worst case, unless you fall in love with the Supreme Court or Bombay Duck, you can always move, so enjoy the good times along the way 😄

Somewhat relevant to the discussion, I thought: KPMG UK Boss resigns after not being sensitive about employee suffering caused by pandemic.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/13/as-kpmgs-boss-has-learned-caring-about-employees-is-now-cool

>The accountancy firm’s UK chair, Bill Michael, who has headed the company since 2017, told staff to “stop moaning” during a virtual meeting about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. He also called unconscious bias, which many businesses have attempted to confront through changes to their training and recruitment practices, “complete and utter crap”.

Thanks for sharing. Initially this was 'hidden' in the 'latest comments' section at the bottom of the page. But when something has news or 'interestingness' value, we intend to feature comments into the main homepage thread also.

It's a work-in-progress, so views, criticism, etc are more than welcome.