A Taste of the Slums

After three days of beautiful architecture in Udaipur and here in Mumbai, I was starting to wonder if we had teleported to Europe. And all the boys in white playing cricket didn't help.

Then, we went to Dharavi, Mumbai' largest slum. Toto, we aren't in Kansas anymore. Or Europe or China or Thailand or anywhere else.

Slums--technically, any areas where people live on government-owned land--house 55 percent of Mumbai's population.

But, walking around Dharavi with our tour guide, Asim, who grew up in the slums himself, the poverty wasn't as jarring as the moments when I forgot that we were in a slum at all.

We started in an industrial area, where most of the residents were (male) migrant laborers who lived in their workplaces. Industries like plastic recycling, leather woking, and textiles put Dharavi's productivity at $665 million per year.

As young men worked, bathed, and relaxed in the streets, Asim pointed to a cordless phone, saying that the boys check them out from a lender to make the long distance calls home. As he spoke, a boy no older than 13 dialed out with a smile that could only have been for his mom.

We moved from the industrial area into more residential streets with families (and girls!). People waved as they did their dishes and introduced us to their kids as we ducked through narrow passageways. As sewer water drained beneath our feet, Asim talked about the diseases in the slums. My dad picked that moment to hand me the mosquito repellant and I was sure glad to be on antimalarials.

But, as we popped into a huge trash heap, what struck me most wasn't the people pooping in the pile, but the little boys with cricket bats.

Calling home? Playing ball? Washing dishes? Some things are the same everywhere.

PS: Our tour company has a strict no camera policy in the slums. Check out these photos from National Geographic: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/dharavi-mumbai-slum/jonas-bendiksen-photography