Slumdog Revealed

Slumdog Millionaire captured it's audience with the corruption and disorder of slum life. It wasn't until today that our students learned about the importance and productivity of Dhavari, the slum in which Slumdog Millionaire was filmed. Dharavi was once a fishing village and soon became the central hub of Mumbai. While many think that slums mainly comprise of disorder and a lack of jobs, we learned that Dharavi not only comprises of 346 acres of residential land, but it also a hub for commercial use with 230.5 acres solely dedicated to commercial businesses and production.

As our students were surprised to hear that Dharavi was booming with business, they were saddened to hear about the actual living conditions. Everyone was at a loss of words to hear that 276 people will share 1 toilet each day. They were also puzzled to hear that people like our security guard, the cooks and other domestic workers that we encounter each day at Tata University most likely live in a slum.

Students were extremely engaged in this lecture while comparing this sort of housing set-up to subsidized housing in America. Our lecturer from Tata University who was an expert on urban planning and global subsidized housing plans explained the Dharavi development plans. There have been many attempts to redevelop Dharavi vertically, which would provide free housing to all individuals who have come to the slum before 1994. This would exclude anyone arriving after 1994. Even if one is eligible, it is very difficult to prove that you have been in Mumbai before 1994. Also, under this redevelopment plan, many multi-member families would not fit into their allotted spaces. The redevelopment plans have gone through many turns with several stakeholders, including real estate developers, the government and UN affiliated organizations.

Our professor ended the lecture by informing us that there is an abundance of jewelry stores located in the slums. Since many people living in the slum have no place to safely store their money, they will purchase gold jewelry and sell it when needed. We will be visiting a slum next week, and our students are anxiously awaiting this visit.