Slumming it

Karin and I went on a tour of the Dharavi slums today, which are the same slums featured in the film Slumdog Millionaire.

Knowing how bad Mumbai traffic was, Karin and I woke up super early (6 am) to make it in time for our slum tour beginning at 830 am. We left the hotel at 7 am and on the advice of the hotel, we asked the driver to take the sea lift (which is really a bridge connecting North Mumbai with South Mumbai over the Arabian Sea) to the Gateway of India. Taxi drivers avoid taking this route because of the 50 Rupee toll, but it was well worth paying as we got to our location within 30 minutes - it was the quickest drive we had in Mumbai.

We met our tour guide, Sunil, along with several other tourists (from England and Australia) at the Reality Tours offices located near Leopold Cafe (highly recommend). The tour would take us through the Red Light District, the largest outdoor laundry in the world, and the Dharavi slums.

Though it was daytime, we did see a few "sex workers" in the Red Light District. Sunil explained to us that safe sex is practised and that the woman actually only keep a small portion of their earnings. I can't remember exactly how much but it was minimal. We drove through the district to Dhobi Ghat which is the big open air laundry. Apparently, this is a million dollar a year enterprise. The people you see below washing laundry rent out the space and make a living was clothing, towels from hotels, scrubs from hospitals, and more. It was fascinating and I had never seen anything like it before.

After the tour of the open air laundry, we drove to Dharavi where we would walk through the slums for about 4 hours before heading back to Leopold Cafe.

I cannot describe in words what the experience was like. Humbling. Overwhelming. Saddening. Despite how I felt, the children in the slums had smiles on their faces. Everyone said hello. Nobody came up to us to beg for money, only to say hello. Completely opposite of our experience walking in Mumbai! Sunil, who group up in the slums, told us that Indians aren't envious people. They accept what they have and make the best of their situations.

Walking through the slums was also very interesting. I saw little stores, manufacturing shops, and of course small two story shacks. I didn't expect to see so much life - I know that sounds terrible - but I really didn't expect it. Granted it was tough to see children without shoes, but for the most part, everyone we encountered had a smile. That hit home for me because it was then I realized that we take life for granted. In America, we always want more. In the slums, they are happy with what they have.

I would absolutely recommend taking the tour if you are in Mumbai. Check out the Reality Tours website. The 1,000 Rupee fee goes to the Reality Tours Community Center where they teach people computer skills, English, and more.

http://realitytoursandtravel.com/slumtours.html

More later.