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Dharavi helps the economy in a substantial way. There are many small-scale business that keep them thriving

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definition- the murder or suicide of a married woman caused by the dispute of her husband
ex: sometimes happens due to the family not supporting enough money for the male

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1.2 million people live here

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Dharavi , the largest slum in Mumbai has often been called the largest slum of Asia, and at times even the largest slum in the whole world. However, Pakistan defeated us hands down a few years back and now Orangi Township in Karachi has the dubious distinctive of being the largest slum in Asia. The largest slum in the world, however, is located in Mexico city with four times more people than Dharavi. However, despite falling behind in size to it's competitors, Dharavi is still huge - it houses anywhere between 500,000 to 1 million people, and the area has slowly become the hub of numerous commercial activities.

However, it's size and poverty aren't the reasons why Dharavi is such an interesting and important place in Mumbai. In fact of you were to remove Dharavi within a day from the city, most likely the city would collapse. We will come to that in a while though.

'Be the local tours'

Dharavi came into international limelight when Danny Boyle's 'Slumdog Millionaire' won an Oscar award, though in the most negative possible light. The depiction of poverty was perhaps close to reality, but some of the other extremities like blinding of young children for begging, was perhaps out of sync with the present times.

This inspired a bunch of young guys from Dharavi itself, led by Fahim, to start something radical to change the perception of the slum in the world around. They started a walking tour through Dharavi for outsiders to showcase how the slum was much more than poverty and dirt. They called it Be the local Tours .

Here's a short video from Dharavi by Intel where these guys are featured.

It was with one of these young guys, Salman, that I took a walk in Dharavi to unlearn my own prejudices and explore its hidden facets. We met at an unusual location, Café Coffee Day opposite Mahim station, but within minutes we were looking deep into the lanes and by lanes of Dharavi.

How did Dharavi come into being?

The story of present day Dharavi is most certainly interesting, but so the story of how it came into existence. Back in the 19th century, this part of Mumbai (used to be known as Bombay then) was a large swamp and primarily inhabited by Koli fishermen who made a living from the waters. As the legend goes, the British built a dam on the Mithi river due to which there was no water to feed the swamp and it dried off. The fishermen moved onto greener (read watery) pastures near the sea and a community of potters moved in here. In fact they could be called the first settlers of the region. As Mumbai turned into a hub for textiles, thousands of men from north India moved in as well and the slum as we know it started to take shape.

1982 was a pivotal year in Mumbai when an year long strike called by Dutta Samant forced most Mills to close down and thousands of Mill workers to become unemployed. The impact of this strike can be felt even today in the city. An entire generation of children were forced to leave school and earn livelihood with the family. Many men in depression took up excessive drinking and it was left to the women and the children to keep the household going.

Many of the mill workers lived in Dharavi and took up other professions to sustain a living. Over the years, the slum took an interesting form where the segregation of living and industrial areas was almost invisible, and in a way the slum became an integral component of the powerhouse of Mumbai. The migrant population over the years had brought in industries like tannery, embroidery, amongst others, and some took on new concepts like segregation and recycling of waste. Today Dharavi processes most of Mumbai's plastic waste, and supplies it back to the plastic manufacturers. Without the human machines in Dharavi working day and night for months without a break, Mumbai would turn into a city of plastic waste.

My walk inside Dharavi

Salman and I started the walk into Dharavi from the a simple looking housing society and quickly moved into industrial area no 13. Over the years many things have changed in the slums, particularly around developing industrial areas a little away from homes. We started with a plastic waste segregation shop, then moved on to another one where the plastic parts are broken down, wasted, dried and eventually made into pallets which are sold to make new plastic parts. The segregation was clearly not perfect, simply because they didn't have the tools to separate all plastic perfectly, but the system still works and there are hundreds of such units.

Next was a visit to a fabric dyeing center, but everyone had just gotten up after a long night and were still busy eating breakfast. I joined in for a few pictures and stories. Most were young men from Bihar looking for opportunities, some to work, while others were here to study. I was clearly not one of them, but it was easy to mix in. In fact it was after such a long time that someone told me that my Hindi was very good and that I couldn't be from Maharashtra.

It was actually the next phase of the walk which was most fascinating to me but unfortunately couldn't take any pictures there. We walked into the purely residential part of Dharavi and it was a new world altogether. I walked in the narrowest lanes ever where barely any sunlight came in, and people lived in extremely close proximity to each other. There was the morning bustle and I am sure the place would be even more alive later in the day.

Dharavi - the fashion brand

Dharavi has been processing leather for a long time and the informal economy of making simple leather products has also been around for a while. However, recently an enterprising group of leather product manufacturers started making these products under a unique brand name, appropriately called 'Dharavi'. There is also an air conditioned retail store and you can buy products using your credit card too. I looked at the jackets and the owner told me that he can get one stitched for me in about four hours.

'How much for one custom made jacket?', I asked.

'Rs 4200', he calmly replied.

These jackets easily retail upwards of Rs 6500 online. I had just purchased mine, but was still tempted to buy another one right there.

Draravi - the commercial hub

I mentioned in the beginning that Dharavi is essential to Mumbai as Mumbai is to Dharawi, and this is where economics come into play.

The organisation of Dharavi is geared towards streamlined business opportunities. The residential and industrial areas are separate and clearly demarcated. The industrial areas are marked at the entrance and are divided based on the industries that operate there, though this may not always be rigidly implemented.

There are numerous manufacturing units, and activities from machining to sewing are all done here. There are about 7000 industries, and 15,000 single room factories. However, one of the biggest industry is waste processing, and this makes Dharavi an integral part of Mumbai. Without the segregation and processing of waste in Dharavi, Mumbai could itself become a large dumping ground.

The annual turnover from all industries here is about 1 billion USD, making it one of the most productive slums in the world. However, this doesn't reflect in the wages and the wage averages between Rs. 100-150/ day.

Dharavi - looking ahead

Dharavi is located in perhaps one of the most coveted real estate zone in the world, and there have been numerous efforts to replace the slums with modern multi-storey buildings. The 2004 Dharavi Redevelopment Plan intends to do just that, but things have moved only slowly. This is compounded by the fact that many residents do not want to move into flats and give up their current way of life.

However, if the plans are implemented, Dharavi will change, and so will Mumbai.

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Dharavi, Mumbai - A Walk inside India's largest slum

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Dharavi , the largest slum in Mumbai has often been called the largest slum of Asia, and at times even the largest slum in the whole world. However, Pakistan defeated us hands down a few years back and now Orangi Township in Karachi has the dubious distinctive of being the largest slum in Asia.

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the greatest "slum" of India

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There is such a thing as a slum tour for visitors. This is kinda annoying to me because Dharavi isn't necessarily a place where you would want to look at for entertainment. It just makes me feel sick to my stomach.

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The news of two young women forced to commit suicide allegedly after dowry pressures shocked the national capital in recent days. Even a very cursory look at the numbers shows a horrifying truth that dowry harassment isn't just an ugly truth among the rural and the underprivileged, but a harsh reality even for the urban, the affluent and the educated.

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definition- a planned marriage, often times not chose, but forced. They have little or no choice in the matter
Girls are usually 18, at the oldest, when parents start thinking about a husband (or even give them one)