This is about Dharavi, a place crumbling under the weight of the tag ‘Asia’s largest slum’. Having done my graduation in Urban Planning, I had read a lot about Dharavi. While travelling towards it, I was thinking of the pictures I had seen of the place and things that I had heard about it. I was reminded of a headline that I had read a few years ago - ‘54% of Mumbai lives in slums’ (World Bank’s Report, 2006). I was mentally prepared to walk through narrow dirty lanes, see make-shift cramped houses, smell garbage and talk to frowned faces.
“Yahi Hai” (This is it) confirmed a passerby. We had reached. We continued meandering further into the enclosed streets of Dharavi. Barred by the corrugated iron sheets, sun rays could no longer reach us. It almost felt like we were entering a womb – cold and dark. Probably we were in the womb of Mumbai - Dharavi, the city inside a city.
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I saw children in school uniforms walking back home. Men could be seen working. Few women were standing and talking in a cosy corner. Children could be seen playing on streets. I could see evidence of life! Those I saw were more than just slum dwellers. Those images that I had seen, came to life. A place which has always been called by names like ‘shadow of Mumbai’ or the ‘darker side of Mumbai’ appeared to have an identity of its own.
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