A visit to Dharavi

Now of course Bombay isn't all glitz and glamour.  You don’t need a slum tour to see the extreme poverty all over the city even in its poshest regions, but I took one anyways.  Below are some pictures from my tour of Dharavi (same slum featured in Slumdog Millionaire).   

I technically wasn’t allowed to take pictures so this is all I managed to capture without my guide yelling at me.  To be honest the slum wasn’t “that bad” compared to some of what I saw in Delhi.  I think the reason for this is the different approaches that the two cities have taken to their migrant populations.  Delhi keeps trying to push them out of the city and makes every effort to destroy their homes and livelihoods.  Bombay isn't much better, but in the case of Dharavi, the city has at least recognized it as a “legal slum” and provides basic resources like water, electricity, and gas for cooking.

What was most interesting about the tour was how economically vibrant the community really is despite appearances (annual turnover is approximately US$ 665 million).  Dharavi– the biggest slum in Asia – is home to India’s second largest leather export center, recycles tons of the cities waste, and processes aluminum used by major computer manufacturers around the world.  Naturally the government hasn’t taken any of this into account in its plan to “develop” this region and give these people homes, but no place to work and earn an income. 

As we were walking through the streets of Dharvia we kept being followed by little kids demanding to know our names or practice their English or just wish us a happy diwali.  My favorite point was when one kids wanted to shake all of our hands and then his friend told him he was stupid to shake my hand since I’m “just an indian” (as opposed to the other english people on my tour).  Despite being “just an indian” these kids were still nice enough to give me clean water when I stepped into an open sewer full of god knows what (I’m still looking for signs of a tumor). 

There’s a good piece on this slum at: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/dharavi-mumbai-slum/jacobson-text

Also the tour company I used has a lot of interesting info on its website.  http://www.realitytoursandtravel.com/