Ellen Besso Coaching

The contrast between the slum we visited on December 23rd & our Christmas turkey dinner in a boutique hotel the next day is indescribable really, but I’ll try!

Dharavi slum is the largest in Asia, 1 million people live hee in a very small area. It is a model slum in many ways I think; it exports $650M per year of goods manufactured inside the slum. The main 4 industries are recycling, leather, pottery & clothes & fabrics.

Our guide, who is also an ambitious college student, was born & still lives in Dharavi. There’s a feeling of community here, & everyone watches out for their neighbours. Because it’s a legal slum, government authorized, it has electricity & sewers; so there’s no comparison between it & some of the other slums.

 Our guide told us that 60% of Mumbai’s 20+ million people live in slums.  There are 2000 slums in the city; of these only 36 are legal, government ones, so it’s a far cry from Dharavi to some of the other wones.

Even in Dharavi, la creme de la creme, the average house size is about 10 feet by 10 feet – not exactly what we’re used to – & 4.5 people live in each house.

After the wake up call of December 23rd, we toddled off for our ‘traditional Christmas dinner’, of turkey etc., at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Mumbai. This was followed by a manager’s tour of the rooftop spa – buffet lunch, white chairs & tables, swimming pool. The Christmas spa brunch, including a glass of wine, was billed at Rs 4000, about $100.

Both our tour on the 24th & our Christmas lunch were a glimpse at how the ‘other side’ lives for us.

1. bronwen says:

   January 14, 2010 at 10:58 pm

   interesting stuff! would like to see it