As the city where most of the novel is set, Mumbai (known in Western countries as Bombay from the British colonial period to the mid-1990s) is a symbol of India. However, the city also serves as a character in the novel. Lin quickly realizes that “[a]bove all else, Bombay [is] free—exhilaratingly free” (21). Anything can happen in this city, including receiving a literal bear hug from a friend. Because of this freedom to do as one pleases, the city and its inhabitants are free in a way that he and some of the other expatriates are not. Later, Lin will credit Mumbai for forming much of his identity: “The heart, for me, was the city. Bombay. The city had seduced me. I was in love with her. There was a part of me that she invented, and that only existed because I lived there, within her” (459).

Mumbai is also a symbol of acceptance. Didier says that only Mumbai can accept a man who is gay, Jewish, and French, all at once. Didier says, “This is not like any other place. This is India. Everyone who comes here falls in love—most of us fall in love many times over. And the Indians, they love most of all” (85).