7. India: The Rich-Poor Divide (part 3)

Rich-Poor Divide Within Major Urban Areas

The Greater Mumbai area is home to an estimated 22 million people, with approximately 11.5 million residing in the central part of the city. Of these, around 60%, or 6.5 million people, live in slums. During my visit, I toured Dharavi, the largest slum in Mumbai, which houses an estimated 1 million people. Dharavi was also the setting for the Hollywood film Slumdog Millionaire - a modern pop culture example of how India shaped the world!

By the end of the tour, my perception of life in a slum had completely transformed. If you focus solely on the physical aspects, it’s easy to develop a negative view, with startling facts like:

1. Population density reaching 540,000 people per square kilometer;

2. One communal toilet for every 1,400 people;

3. No running water, with residents forced to buy overpriced water from vendors;

4. Widespread trash and polluted waterways.

However, as I continued the tour, I began to understand that life in Dharavi is more complex than it appears on the surface. I realized that:

1. There is a strong sense of community among the residents;

2. A high level of interdependence exists, with many residents sharing childcare and other responsibilities;

3. Commercial activity within the slum is thriving, with many businesses operating within its boundaries;

4. A significant number of people rely on the slum itself for their livelihoods, with many working from home to avoid the need for long commutes;

5. The slums also offer shelter and employment for millions of rural migrants who move to the city in search of better opportunities.

The government has built high-rise apartment complexes to house slum residents, offering them more formal living spaces. However, there has been resistance to these developments. Many residents argue that relocating to these apartments would limit their ability to continue their traditional work, isolate them from their social networks, and deprive them of the emotional and psychological benefits of belonging to a close-knit community.

Commercial Zone

In Dharavi, the commercial zone boasts a thriving informal economy, with an estimated annual turnover of one billion USD. Here, numerous small businesses recycle materials into finished products. Large quantities of recyclables from Mumbai are collected and funneled through the narrow alleyways, where they are processed and reassembled into new products. The range of products manufactured is vast, with one notable example being luxury branded luggage.

The process begins with breaking down discarded luggage into its many components. Next, these parts are reassembled into ready-to-sell luxury luggage under well-known brands like Samsonite, Guess, and American Tourister. Once completed, the luggage is wholesaled to retail outlets. To the average consumer, there’s little visible difference between genuine and fake products, and many are simply pleased to believe they’ve found a bargain.

Another significant business in the area is the production of luxury branded leather goods. Used leather products are dismantled, reprocessed, and transformed to look "new." The leather is then made into finished goods—bags, wallets, purses, and accessories—before being sold in retail outlets.

Other industries I saw in Dharavi’s commercial sector included the recycling of plastics into bottles, containers, and parts for appliances, as well as the manufacturing of various products for further processing.

Clothing production is another major industry in Dharavi and a current way of how India shaped the world. I bought a Real Madrid shirt with Ronaldo’s No. 7 on the back for just NZD 6 from a small business where ten young men, all migrants from across India, worked using old Singer sewing machines with foot pedals. They slept beside their machines to save on rent, and this type of activity was repeated countless times throughout Dharavi.

Since most slum houses lack laundry facilities, this has created an opportunity for laundry businesses that serve local residents. Water is drawn from a well, clothes are washed by hand, beaten on a hard surface to remove excess water, then hung on a clothesline to dry before being folded and returned to their owners.

What stood out to me in the commercial section of Dharavi was the industrious nature of the people working there. They were deeply focused on their tasks, fully aware that their income is directly tied to their productivity.

To be continued in the next post...