Visiting Dharavi

Being residents of Mumbai, the visit to the Dharavi slums (Asia’s largest slum) was an eye-opener for us . We had just heard about the low standard of living of the slum dwellers but this was the first time we really saw it with our own eyes. This is the very moment when we realized the intensity of the problem. The sanitary conditions were really bad and the surroundings were really unclean. Some of the residents were living in those houses for as long as 50 years. They had to encounter a number of hardships and had a tough fight for survival. They all had really meager incomes.

Though they were very poor, their nature was quite warm and hospitable and they felt free to share their problems. The basic challenges that they faced daily were that the electricity supply was not regular, it was really hot, & the water supply was not regular. There was a garbage dump close to the house we visited and so the place kept stinking. The area was very crowded with houses leaving a really narrow path to walk. The circulation of air in the houses was not good and may be that was the reason I observed an exhaust fan in every house. The houses were basically a small room on op of which another room was illegally made. The stairs to the room on top were steep and narrow.

We all were really eager to know the comments that the onlookers were passing. It was really depressing to see the poverty in which our STCI friends were living in. This was when we started realizing how much we have & we began to appreciate the pleasures of life. This visit had a huge role in changing our outlook towards life.

- Kartik and Neha (Udayachal)