DISNEY DHARAVI
Chris Khetan gets a dose of reality tourism right here in the heart of Mumbai and Asia’s biggest slum, Dharavi
The word ‘holiday’ conjures up an image of sun-kissed beaches, slopes lush with greenery, historical backdrops and other picture postcard images. Ask any old Mumbaikar if the city has anything to offer the curious tourist and the answer would most likely be a resounding no: head for Goa or head for the hills will be their rejoinder. That is until Dharavi became the unlikely tourist attraction.
Yes, Asia’s biggest slum has a lot going for it with the recent trend of “reality tourism”.
Evidence of its popularity is the growing success of Reality Tours & Travels with conducting trips that promise a unique way to experience the “real” Mumbai. The agency was started in January this year in collaboration between Chris Way, a citizen of UK and Mumbaikar Krishna Pujari. With an investment of 13 lakh rupees they have so far played guides to an odd assortment of tourists that have included foreigners, journalists and even locals.
Eighty per cent of the agency’s profit after tax goes to a local NGO called Modern Educational, Social and Cultural Organisation that runs nursery schools for under-privileged children in the slums. The remaining 20 per cent is used to pay off loans or ploughed right back into the business.
The tours are conducted through, and their frequency is an indication of its popularity, even as the agency is not keen to make Dharavi a spectator sport. The tours are conducted in groups of not more than five in an effort not to rob residents of their privacy.
Says Krishna, “We spent a month talking to the residents of Dharavi telling them of our intention behind conducting the tours. They have been supportive and we in turn are mindful of their space.” Her business partner Chris insists that the tour is not out to showcase Dharavi’s poverty. “The primary purpose is to dispel a myth that Dharavi is simply a place of squalor and extreme poverty. It is the heart of small scale industries in Mumbai.” This is evident from the manner in which the tour guides attempt to educate the tourists with Dharavi trivia.
Did you know that Dharavi is spread across 443 acres of land housing more than a million people hard at work in more than 10,000 varied small scale units? This is where Dharavi stands out when compared to other slums in India, or the world. Richard, a lawyer from UK, remarks that while holidaying in countries such as Brazil, Thailand and South Africa where guided slum tours are well established, he come across this kind of productivity. “No one is holding out any begging bowl here and that’s what I like. This level of enterprise is astounding,” he says.
One comes across businesses ranging from bakeries to units recycling plastic and metal to leather tanning and clay pot making. All this apparently translates into an eye brow raising annual turnover of approximately Rs 3000 crore.
The tour threads through a school that is operating in the heart of the slum, where more than 50 children of two separate grades share a single room. Cliff, a UK citizen and lawyer by profession, is moved and says, “It’s heartening to see the children all decked out in clean uniforms with their well thumbed school books. It’s certainly the inspiration and the hope for the future for the people of Dharavi.”