Siddhant Chaturvedi’s Love Letter to Mumbai, With Airbnb

Mumbai has long been called a city of dreamers. It’s a place where ambition is sharpened by hustle, but softened by community — where the city can feel overwhelming one moment and unmistakably like home the next. What Mumbai means, of course, depends on who you ask. For some, it’s cutting chai and a piping hot vada pav on a rain-soaked evening. For others, it’s the daily choreography of catching an 8 a.m. local. And for many, it’s something quieter still: sipping matcha at a favourite Bandra café on a slow Sunday afternoon.

Advertisment

The culture, the music, the neighbourhoods — these rhythms shape the people who pass through them, and the ones who stay. Siddhant Chaturvedi speaks of Mumbai with that same sense of gratitude: for the way it shaped his ambition, his creativity, and his journey. In conversation with ELLE India, he reflects on the city not as a place he performs in, but one he keeps returning to — quietly, instinctively. Long before stages, sets, and spotlights, Mumbai taught him how to listen: to conversations spilling out of cafés, to footsteps echoing through rehearsal lanes, to the particular hum that exists between ambition and exhaustion.

It’s this deeply personal relationship with the city that has now taken shape as Lolla India Like a Local, an exclusive Airbnb Original Experience hosted by Chaturvedi himself. Designed as an intimate, once-in-a-lifetime journey, the experience invites guests into his Mumbai — tracing the everyday spaces that have influenced his creative life before culminating at Lollapalooza India. With just four spots available, Lolla India Like a Local offers a rare chance to experience the city alongside him, in the way he knows it best. Requests to book open on January 19 at 11 a.m. IST at airbnb.com/siddhant, with the experience available to guests at no cost.

We spoke to Chaturvedi about his relationship with the city, the role music and travel continue to play in his life, and what it means to open up a place so personal — one neighbourhood, one meal, one moment at a time.

Advertisment

You’re stepping into the role of a host with Lolla India Like a Local. What excited you most about opening up your Mumbai for travellers to explore, not as a performer, but as a guide?

What drew me to this was the opportunity to rethink how people experience both music and a city. I wanted this to feel personal rather than programmed. When I travel for a concert or festival, the most meaningful moments often happen not only at the concert but also outside the venue, walking through neighbourhoods, sharing meals, listening to the city’s sounds, and letting its pace shape the experience. You don’t return home with just the memory of a performance; you return with a sense of the place itself. That idea became the foundation for this experience. Through The Mumbai Guidebook I curated with Airbnb and the original soundtrack Musafir, I wanted to capture what it feels like to be a traveller in your own city and invite guests to experience Mumbai through that lens.

Mumbai has a way of shaping artists long before they realise it. Which neighbourhoods or pockets of the city have stayed with you creatively, and why do they still matter to you?

Neighbourhoods like Bandra, Juhu, Aram Nagar, and Kala Ghoda have stayed with me because they are layered with aspiration. You feel the history, the journey, and the hope all at once. These places still matter because they remind me where my creative instincts were shaped. That is exactly why I brought them together in my Mumbai guidebook, to give others a way to experience the city through the neighbourhoods, pauses, and creative pockets that have influenced my journey. It could be something as simple as momos at Kepchaki or getting lost among zines at Fluxus Chapel. Those everyday moments are what kept my perspective rooted and real.

The experience includes a jam session rooted in your early musical journey. What does revisiting those beginnings unlock for you today, especially in a city that’s always moving forward?

Revisiting my beginnings keeps me grounded. Mumbai constantly pushes you to move forward, but music allows you to pause and reflect. The jam session as part of the Airbnb experience brings me back to why I fell in love with music in the first place. In a city that is always chasing the next thing, returning to the beginning helps me stay honest with my creative voice and I’m excited to perform for guests an original soundtrack I created with my friend called ‘Musafir’ that encapsulates the feeling of a traveller coming home.

Between lanes, street art, shared meals, and music, this experience leans into Mumbai’s quieter, more intimate rhythms. How important is it for you to create space for those moments, both while travelling and at home?

Those quieter rhythms are where connection really happens. Whether I am travelling or at home, I try to leave room for moments that are unplanned. Sitting down for a meal, listening to the city, noticing details. Mumbai can be overwhelming if you rush through it, but if you slow down, it opens up. Creating space for those moments is essential for creativity and for feeling truly present. It is interesting because Airbnb’s insights show that more than half of Gen Z travellers extend their stay beyond concert dates just to explore the city. That tells me people are craving depth, not just spectacle, and revisiting my roots mirrors that desire for something more meaningful.

Travel today is increasingly about immersion rather than movement. How doexperiences like Airbnb’s allow you to connect with a city, or your own, in a more personal, grounded way?

Immersion changes the way you remember a place. Airbnb experiences allow you to live within a city rather than skim over it. You wake up to everyday sounds, discover neighbourhoods organically, and engage with locals and hosts who know their city best. Even in your own city, that shift helps you see familiar places with fresh eyes. It turns travel into something emotional, not transactional.

The day culminates at Lollapalooza India, a global festival rooted in a local context. What does it mean to you to experience something so large-scale through a lens that’s deeply personal and local?

Lollapalooza India represents the meeting point of global music and local identity. You are not just attending a festival. You are carrying the rhythm of Mumbai with you into that space. For me, that is what will complete the journey with guests as part of the experience. The city shapes the experience, and the music amplifies it.

Also Read:

‘Difference Can Be Beautiful’: Alok Vaid-Menon On Gender, Fashion, And Finding Community In India

Barbie’s World Just Got Bigger: Meet India’s First Autistic Barbie