Dharavi-A 'Five Star' Slum




Travelling and exploring new destinations and ticking them off the bucket list is a passion nurtured by many and I'm no different. So this time, with a bunch of my SYBMS-Marketing enthusiasts, we thought of embarking on an unconventional tour and exploring the Slumdog millionaire street right out of the movie in August, 2018.

Dharavi, I had heard a lot about this place and used to catch a glimpse of the locality from the sky while landing in Mumbai. One thing that always grabbed my attention was the roof tops of the houses seemed cheek by jowl from above which was an evidence of how densely populated the locality was (it houses approximately 8-10 lakh people sprawling over 520 acres). 


Also, the brightly lit up locality, especially during Diwali and other festive season is completely enthralling from above.

Since its considered as one of the largest and richest slums of India and 2nd largest in Asia after Orangi in Pakistan, I always pondered upon the thought that how can slums be so rich which in a way built my inquisitiveness to visit this place and witness the kind of businesses thriving in the region. As it was a little difficult to explore the alleys of Dharavi alone, we consulted Amaze Adventures and Vacations who are believed to be the leaders in organizing'small group walking tour of Dharavi slums in Mumbai' (as per TripAdvisor).
Our initial apprehensions about the locality were cast aside when we met and interacted with our tour guide and we were set on a journey to explore 'a city within the city'. As we were navigating the alleys of Dharavi, we gained insights into the processing and functionalities of the following industries:
1.      Sorting and recycling of Plastic
2.      Making of aluminum food containers and tins
3.      Tiffin services -  involved making and packing of food
4.      Tailoring and cloth dyeing
5.      Bakery
6.      Pottery
7.      Soap making (kala sabun-used for cleaning utensils)
8.      Leather market  (chamdi bazaar)

The leather market or chamdi bazaar is a major attraction of Dharavi which processes the skins of goat, sheep, buffalo etc. to manufacture products ranging from leather jackets to leather belts and wallets. It's a major attraction amongst leather jacket lovers as it offers great deals on original leather products. The interesting fact about the leather factories is that well renowned MNC brands, source as well as manufacture their leather products from Dharavi which is later exported to European markets for polishing and labelling. Thus, escalating the cost of the final product. Dharavi slums is a place visited by many foreign tourist on daily basis and it generates a good source of income for many tour guides. We too witnessed many foreign tourist on our journey.

We were informed that majority of the workers working there have migrated from North and other parts of the country as they get better wages but have to work for more than 15 hours a day in extremely bad and hazardous working environment and many end up breathing their last while at work.The irony is that inspite of being one of the richest slums, people living there hardly have access to proper medical facilities.

No wonder it's known as a five star slum as it has 24 hours of electricity and water supply as told by our tour guide. Also, the people residing in Dharavi possess all those modern day amenities in their house which at times might be a distant dream for many and we concluded that ‘people living in Dharavi slums are poor’, is just a myth. If we look beyond the open drains, plastic sheets and canopies of open cables, we can see Dharavi slums as an ecosystem buzzing with activities that creates an informal economy with an annual turnover running into crores of rupees.

Truly it was a tour with a lot of practical exposure and knowledge enhancement which no textbook or classroom would ever give. It’s rightly said that travel makes one modest as you get to see what tiny place in the world you occupy.

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