Won't you take me to shanty-town?

Go ahead and check out Dharavi, the setting for Slumdog Millionaire

Nothing needs to be said about Dharavi — Asia’s largest slum in the heart of Mumbai. It has had its share of headlines in the past, and it now just gets bigger as it provided the setting for the Oscar-nominated movie Slumdog Millionaire.

While the movie might be something to write home about in terms of representing Mumbai, there is no disputing the fact that Dharavi is the “other”, non-shining India which, though neglected by India shining, continues to thrive and throb. It was the place where the concept of slum tourism originated in India. If you want to relive the movie, this is what you need to know.

Slum tourism, or “poorism” as it is sometimes called, is said to be already pretty popular around the world with tourists stopping to trawl the alleys of spots such as the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the shanty-towns of South Africa and the garbage dumps of Mexico. At Dharavi, a number of operators offer you a day’s visit, with pretty much the same options.

You are first dropped off at the edge of the slum in an air-conditioned vehicle. Then begins a trek through the shanties. The feeling that you might be satisfying your voyeuristic tendencies is tempered by the fact that most operators employ locals and a part of the tour fees goes to benefit the slum. You will most likely start with the red-light area and then take in the massive open-air dhobi ghat.

Spread over about 400 acres, the slum is said to cram in over a million people. It is often referred to as a city within a city. Apart from the ramshackle dwellings, of great interest are the small-scale industries that operate here. Curiously, the most common urban refuse — plastic — is massively recycled here. Then there is the tannery and finally the bakery and papad-making units that are said to supply many high-end restaurants in Mumbai.

Quite severely affected in the post-Babri Masjid riots, it is interesting to note that it is Muslim craftsmen who still fabricate Hindu religious altars here. Finally, you can stop at the Khumbarwada area, occupied by the potter community. Their communal clay pits and kilns date back to 1930.