Mumbai’s Shadow City

We visited Mumbai’s Shadow City, the notorious undercity Dharavi.  Dharavi is Asia’s largest slum.  Though there are no accurate numbers for the current population, it is estimated that one million people live in the Dharavi slum.

The slum began developing around 1882 during the colonial era.  Its occupants are largely illegally living in makeshift homes and come from all over India in search of work.  Today this slum occupies India’s hottest real estate area. Strangely, Dharavi lies on prime property right in the middle of India’s financial capital.

Dharavi is where Slumdog Millionaire was filmed.  Many of the children from the film were Dharavi slum dwellers. Dharavi is written about in Katherine Boo’s novel Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity.  Dharavi was also mentioned in the novel Shankaram by Gregory David Roberts.  Roberts was a convicted Australian bank robber and drug addict who escaped prison and ended up hiding out in the slums of Mumbai.  A rough life, a place teaming with people who make a living by collecting garbage, sorting it out, and recycling it.  Today I got a chance to see Dharavi.

This visit was not on our itinerary.  Several people on our tour had heard there are Slum Tours which are well worth doing in Mumbai.  Several people in our tour had friends who highly recommended we experience the Slum Tours.  We talked to Arvind about the possibility of our going on a slum tour.  Arvind was very worried about our safety and strongly hesitated to agree to having this outing happen.  Pickpockets, poverty, desperation,  unsanitary conditions awaited us.  However, upon our continued request, he was able to hire a guide, a man who grew up near the slums, a man who knew the slums well, and who would keep us safe.  That was how we were able to go!  Once again Arvind pulled strings that we did not know existed.

We stopped by the slum this morning on our way to the airport.  We were escorted by Arvind and the hired guide.  There were a few tour participants who felt uncomfortable going into the slum so they opted to stay behind on the bus.  I had no idea what to expect.  I didn’t know if we’d be robbed or ousted by the residents, or stared at in an unwelcome manner. Arvind’s number one priority is to keep us SAFE. How would he do that? How would we be perceived with our cameras, our good shoes and clean clothing, our combed hair and well-fed bodies?

I could never have imagined how warmly we would be received.  All of us were very respectful of the slum dwellers and I believe they felt our sincerity.  We did not go to judge.  We came to see, to learn, to take in.  We fell in love with the children.  Mostly we saw men working!  They were kind towards us. There were various heaps of organized garbage like flattened card-boards, motors of every kind, boards and planks, refrigerator parts, typewriters, old air conditioning units, plastic bottles and plastic containers.  Things were being taken apart and reassembled, recycled and pounded, reinvented and reinstalled.  Everyone was busy at work, industrious as ever.  And proud!  I couldn’t believe how proud everyone was to be working, dismantling, and creating. Mountains of garbage and recycled goods were everywhere.  Litter was everywhere, rusted out tin roofs, rubble and broken bits of this and that everywhere.

Our slum guide walked with us, sometimes slightly ahead of us and Arvind always in the rear, keeping a keen eye on all of us. Our slum guide spoke to the residents and explained our presence in Marathi, the language spoken in Mumbai.  He also translated for us and helped us to communicate with the slum residents.  All the while, everyone was busy collecting, sorting, working, creating, making things from recycled materials and tossed-out goods.

We went into the belly of the slum, but not too deeply into the vast interior, and within 30 minutes, we were safely spit out onto the street and whisked away back onto our air conditioned bus.  It was an unbelievable experience.

All of us left feeling much better than we thought possible after such an excursion.  We found the people so lovely!  We interacted, we asked if we could take photos and they all said yes.  Dharavi is a testament to the tenacity and strong spirit of mankind.  I hope the photos below will help you experience our short walk into a place most people dare not tread voluntarily.  We looked poverty in the eye and came away more humbled than ever.  We came away with a new perspective and a renewed appreciation of the human spirit.

This is my favorite photo. This little girl was a little overwhelmed by us. Meanwhile, her grandfather held her on his lap so tenderly and he smiled the whole time. You could see how much he loved her and she felt reassured by his strength.

Another adorable child! I sat by him for a little while and showed him that we had the same boots. He was delighted. The children were clean and looked to be well fed. They appeared to be very happy and well loved.

Industrious Residents of Dharavi Undercity

Grandfather’s Smile

Taking a break from sorting

Another truckload of cardboard to be sorted out

Another favorite photo. Hard at work

Tea Break

Man coming down from makeshift second story, carrying a broken air conditioner, which will be reconfigured and working again, only to be resold without a warranty.

He was taking this typewriter apart tiny piece by tiny piece. I cannot imagine what he was going make or repair with the hundreds of pieces, but I have a feeling he had something unique in mind.

Cindi saw this first and then I copied her and photographed the same subject! A bike that was most likely re-done from recycled materials