Day 21 – Amazon Goes Slumming and We Learn More About Social Stigma

This day would turn out to be one our best days yet. Amazon and I had spent many evenings discussing the highlights of the trip to date. They were divided in two main categories, sensory and spiritual/cultural. Up to this point both played out in perfect competition with each other. Today would bring a shift in that balance.

The morning was spent driving past many monuments and buildings. We visited a public laundry area where people make the best of a water supply that is rationed to only a few hours a day. For many this is a living as they do laundry for many homes, commercial businesses and industrial customers.

In order to capture the things we missed on Sunday due to closures, we were only afforded 45 minutes in the Prince of Wales Museum. While I restricted myself to the ancient history of Hinduism and the natural history section featuring many stuffed animals native to western India, Amazon got on her bike, determined to repeat her “Louvre in 30 minutes” adventure in Paris many years ago.

When we completed the morning itinerary we returned to the hotel for a quick turnaround. 30 minutes isn’t enough time to drink a beer when factoring in the time to order and pay for it, so I stuck to water to rehydrate for the afternoon.

At 2:00 pm, we were met by our driver and headed to Dharavi to meet our guide for the afternoon. We were placed in the capable hands of Wariz, a 22y old MBA student who resides in Dharavi. Prior to entry, to this venue, he insisted on a briefing to prepare us for what we were to see and provide some simple does and don’ts for our visit. The don’ts were simple, take no picture of any resident without permission. The do’s were simple as well. Ask lot’s of questions of Wariz and if we wanted to talk to a resident, Wariz would facilitate. I should mention that Dharavi is Mumbai’s biggest and most populated slum. About 1 million people inhabiting a footprint of 1.7 sq km. Residents live in a community which is shunned and looked down upon by Mumbai society despite it’s contribution to the cities quality of life (~1 billion USD annually). There are 5 main industries within the confines, pottery, leathers, embroidery and garment production, bakeries and most interestingly, plastic recycling.

1. Plastics – During the day, residents of Dhavari scour the city for plastic trash (bottles, yogurt containers, car body parts and electronics). The collected items are sorted in several distributed locations, next plastics are chopped into small pieces. Following this the pieces are washed in barrels of water and detergent and then dried in the sun on the roofs of the homes. The product is sold to plastic manufacturers. Each stage in the process shares in the benefits accruing from the revenue.

2. Bakeries – Many sweets are produced by individual shops. Products are labeled by the vendor for local sale and sold, unlabeled to vendors from outside Dhavari who apply their own label.

3. Pottery – This trade migrated to Mumbai from elsewhere and set up shop in Dhavari. This enclave acquire the clay, mix and craft their products. They fire them in homemade kilns and in some cases glaze them. All products are sold within Dhavari and on the outside.

4. Embroidery and garment production – In this case residents are supplied with their materials from outside wholesalers and then transform them into finished product. This type of work can be done on a piecework basis by women in their homes when their home duties allow them (yes, in hindu culture in India, women stay home, cook, clean and raise the children)

5. Leather goods are produced within the confines of Dhavari, with hides of every type but bovine. Tanning has been replaced by using spray on paints, which eliminates environmental contamination issues. Initially, all the product was sold to third party vendors who would apply their own brand, hiding the origin of the product. More recently, the leather collective have developed their own brand, but it is only sold in Dhavari. Amazon has a Dhavari handbag and my pants will stay up very shortly by a Dhavari brand belt (it is of such fine quality that I don’t want to use it on all but the best occasions).

During our visit we observed no behaviours which might cause concern for our safety. Rather, we often felt we were in the way of people who have work to do or product to be moved. In all a very industrious community. Not at all our idea of what a slum is.

Wariz, our guide, grew up in Dhavari, went to school there, worked there and only left the community during the day to seek a degree in marketing. He is now in an accredited MBA program and plans to continue to live in Dhavari even after his parents find him a wife. This was a truly uplifting visit and we agreed that it was the highlight of our spiritual/ cultural education. Clearly, Dhavari is a community, not a slum, but it will take decades for the residents to overcome the stigma. Mumbai society may never change in it’s attitude, but their loss is Dhavari’s gain. We are converts.