A Visit to Remember

The visit to the slums was an eye-opening experience. We went to an area called Dharavi, which is supposedly the largest slum in the world and where Slumdog Millionaire was partly shot. We started off on a main market street, and took a turn into a small alley, and that's when the experience began. But before that, while we were walking from our train platform, then on the main street and then into the alley, there was this guy with the creepiest smile ever following us. At one point, he was on the phone while keeping an eye on us. Rup was convinced that he was working for the gangsters and wanted to take advantage of us foreigners (we were with 5 other white people). It turned out to be nothing, but kinda scary at the time. Anyways, we saw a lot of waste-processing being done. Dharavi is one of the main recycling centers of Mumbai (a lot bigger than any government agency). We walked through these narrow streets where it was hard to walk side-by-side with anyone else. We went to the rooftop of a house where we could see a lot of Dharavi houses. We saw a sweatshop (insanely small for the amount of clothes they produce), a bakery, and many other industries. On the main street, 4 of us almost got killed by motorcycles and cars that don't care about people walking on the road. We saw kids dancing to music (I think for a wedding), kids playing badminton, a snake-charmer/comedian, movie theater the size of our kitchen, and many more things that I never would've expected due to the tough living conditions. It was one of the places you have to visit to really understand the large wealth disparities that exist here in Mumbai.

-V

P.S.- We went to the Haji Ali mosque after the Dharavi visit. It is the most famous mosque in Mumbai.

A couple of Haji Ali Mosque pics:

In front of the Haji Ali Mosque. The way to get there is long and is surrounded by the sea on both sides.

Thousands of people on their way to the Mosque.

Pictures from Dharavi:

On a side street at the end of Dharavi is this temple. It has sculptures of all the Hindu gods and goddesses (I think).

Little kids dancing to music. They wanted me to join them, but I didn't have my dancing shoes on.

On the roof top of a house in Dharavi.

Walking through the residential area. This street is one of the wider ones that they have.

Metal-recycling factory. Apparently, we are not supposed to take pictures in here.

Some random pics that I should've put up a while back:

Star Bazaar. Those escalators are dangerous if you are not careful.

The Lobby of the famous Taj Hotel. The bathroom service is sick.

Gateway of India at night. Can't really see much, but it's the best I got.

Riding the train on the side like Mumbaikars do. Notice that the train not crowded (you rarely find this).