Christian Wedding Celebrations

Photos by Anuja Gupta

Cosmopolitan to the Core

One cannot help but notice the amalgamation of different cultures and religious values that exist on the lanes of Dharavi; Tamilians, Kolis, Gujratis, Catholics and Muslims - its a secular state in itself. The Koli’s were the first ones said to have inhabited this 18th century swamp island for their fishing business. When you pass through the narrow streets of Dharavi, you come across an amazing mix of cultures. What is remarkable is the harmony that exists between them.

But the true essence of Dharavi lies in its business sense, with different kinds of people belonging to different facets of life; who work day in and day out to make a living and earn their daily bread. Their dedication shows in their remarkable effort to work their best in rooms smaller than 4feet by 4feet.

Dharavi entertains a diversity of business activities; one comes across potters, scrap dealers, zari makers, cloth merchants, tailors and drug dealers. I was still so hesitant to communicate with the inhabitants as the notorious history it carries. However, my comfort zone eased when I started interacting with the locals. Their gracious attitudes and the curiosity to interact with us was heart warming. No selfish reasons and no boorish behavior, but only the soul reason to interact.

Mumbai as it is popularly known as is the economic capital of India and a lot of it's contribution comes from these 450 acres of marshy land. As I walked in these narrow lanes, I wondered: Anyone can work in an air-conditioned room filled with all the essential tools and appliances, but working in the most aggressive environment with unavailability of such comforts is an achievement in itself.

-Ushma Jani

My first steps...

Walking on alien streets all by yourself is not as daunting as walking on the streets of Dharavi for the first time. It was for the first time, last week; I walked on the most hostile roads of Mumbai. The experience was quite intimidating especially for a person like me - born and brought up in the same city and yet unaware of this crude mass of commercial settlement, `Dharavi'.

When I first landed at Mahim station, I encountered an unlikely environment, prone to civil conflict all the time. Mahim station- a host to a temple on one side of the road, and to its diagonally opposite, proudly stood a mosque. As I walked towards my destination, dharavi police station on the 90 ft road, I was welcomed by a mass of lewd comments, comments that were vulgar and funny at the same time. I think I heard someone say to me ‘seh-xy danger’ it almost broke me in to giggles. While I made conscious efforts to ignore it and walked towards my destination, I was dismayed with the experience of walking on these roads all by myself. My only goal was to reach the journey’s end as soon as possible and take the shelter of comfort from my other team members.

An experience not so pleasant to share, but what kept me going was the anticipation of a career I had been wanting to pursue, the eagerness to know my own city better and to see Asia’s largest slum.

-Ushma Jani