Slum… Or Thriving Community?

Entry started from my studio in Bombay on January 18, 2014 and finished on February 2, 2014

From North American Suburban Roots to… Reality

I was raised in a middle-class North American suburb with a naïve assumption that the rest of the world shared my standard of living. Life gave me a shocking reality check when I saw poverty for the first time during my travels to Southeast Asia in 2008. What I didn’t expect was the subsequent humility I experienced when I witnessed how happy, generous and carefree the poor really are. We have this notion that “more” in every sense of the word is the road to freedom and happiness. Truthfully, less really is more when it comes to realizing that true sense of bliss within ourselves. I truly believe the rich can learn so much from the poor.

Urban slums have always fascinated me. Yes, at first glance there is an obvious sense of desperation and poverty that exists in slums, but underneath that there are tight knit communities working together through hardship to survive. I love how dense populations can exist on the margins of urban centres yet create self-sustaining ecosystems within themselves.

I set my sights on exploring Dharavi, the largest slum in Asia, where between 300,000 to about 1 million are jam packed into an area approximately one square mile in size. It is one of the most densely populated places in the world. More famously, it is the slum where the movie Slumdog Millionaire was filmed.

This was definitely going to be a solo excursion. Aiming for stealth and agility, I only took my backup point-and-shoot camera and a compass with me. Yeah that’s right… I left my DSLR and the heavy backpack that comes with it behind for this journey. It felt extremely liberating.

The Adventure Begins…

I kicked off my day of exploration by crossing this bridge I see all the time whenever I take a taxi into the city centre. I like to call it The Pipeline Bridge.

This was my overall game plan: make my way through the district, changing course to check out any points of interest and come out the other end. Dharavi was a complete labyrinth and I’m sure my actual path looked nothing like this.

Dharavi is within walking distance of my pad so I casually strolled on over. I still mistakenly ended up in another smaller neighbouring slum before some locals pointed me in the right direction. I couldn’t even find the largest slum in India on my own… I’ll never be able to navigate this country properly.

The Dharavi Experience

Upon entering the slum, I felt as though someone literally took ten thousand villages from rural India and crammed it into a high-density urban area. The sense of community I felt here was astounding. Small open courtyards scattered across the slum served as markets where people gathered and or played cricket. Some successful doctors, lawyers and businessmen prefer staying in slums over the rest of the city for this reason. I can believe it. I was greeted with smiles and looks of curiosity everywhere I went.

Dozens of locals came to me to chat and learn more about me without asking for anything in return. A couple locals even offered to show me around and I graciously accepted the improv slum tour. Before I knew it, I had over a dozen people following me with complete curiosity around what I was up to. Just by showing up and being my usual cheerful self, I brought laughter to many dozens of people throughout the day. I felt like I was the source of entertainment for the entire community!

A typical narrow lane in Dharavi. Much of the district is like this, creating tons of opportunities for adventures (that's my way of saying "getting lost").

Dharavi was one of the most enterprising places I have seen in the world. During India’s colonial era, the British created Dharavi as a means to move high-pollution industries away from more desirable parts of Mumbai. The slum is roughly divided into districts based on industrial sector. The total annual turnover of Dharavi has been estimated at over US$500 million. Around every corner I saw textile mills, printing presses, food preparation centres, restaurants, retail shops, recycling centres and many more entrepreneurial endeavours. Micro-markets were established near many of the production establishments.

Slums Are Here to Stay… For a While

According to the World Health Organization, the world’s urban population will nearly double from approximately 3.4 billion in 2009 to 6.4 billion in 2050. Almost all urban population growth in the next 30 years will occur in cities of developing countries. Just as North Americans all feel like a pilgrimage to New York at some point in their lives will help them in “making it”, rural populations globally are allured by the shining prospects of today’s megacities. It is hard to believe so many people would give up the village life to live in a slum like Dharavi, but even urban slums can provide more opportunity than rural India. Talk about putting life into perspective.

Some architectural shots of Dharavi. Obviously, sanitation is a huge challenge and it's really eye-opening to witness the sheer population density of a slum community

Even the lower to middle class denizens of India can afford their own maids and servants because there is so much cheap labour at the bottom of the pyramid. It’s really easy to completely overlook the hard working individuals in India who earn next to nothing while picking the garbage that we throw on the streets, cleaning our homes and cooking our meals.

I am extremely glad that I created the opportunity to see and experience Dharavi. At the end of the day every human, even the poorest of the poor, is amazing and deserves to be treated with dignity.

Of Course, India Isn't India if Locals Aren't Asking for Photos 

This dude greeted me with this gesture while saying "YO!!!!!" as soon as he saw me. He invited me to play cricket with his friends where I pitched a couple rounds

This is the first time someone has ever asked for only a photo of his haircut

Someone even got a shot of me!

And to Contrast... The Most Expensive Home in the World

This is Antilia, the home of the Reliance Industries chairman, Mukesh Ambani. At a shocking price tag of $2 billion, it is reported to be the most expensive home in the world and includes a staff of 600 to maintain the residence. It is roughly 20 minutes away from Dharavi by train. 

Did I mention it houses a family of only 6 people?