Wednesday, 11 March 2009
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A Chance to Walk Through the Slums of Mumbai, India
I watched the Oscar-winning "Slumdog Millionaire" movie for the second time last week and I still thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a movie about love and hope. It's uplifting, and it's rare for an Oscar-winning movie not to be a really depressing drama, although some parts in the movie do tug at your heart strings.
One of the main aspects of the movie that really created a lump in my throat were the scenes of young children in the slums of Mumbai. The fact that a friend of mine who was born and raised in a slum just like the one shown in the movie hit me that much harder. He said that what's shown is exactly how it is--covered in trash, filthy swimming water, swarming with beggars--it's all real, folks!
I never in a million years thought that if I wanted to, I'd have the chance to visit the very same slum featured in the movie. Yes, they are now doing Slum Tours in India, you can walk through the very same alleys that those impoverished children and their families do. You can take a glimpse into the daily life of a "slumdog," as the movie calls the main character, and not actually walk in his shoes for a day, but definitely get a feel of where his shoes go on a typical day.
This reminded me of a tour I did of a Brazilian favela, cramped with people living in poverty. We walked through the intricate narrow alleyways, learning about the people of the favelas and their living conditions.
My hope is that these slum tours will benefit the lives of the people living in these slums, that these tours will educate outsiders like me and other travelers, and that these tour companies will help improve the conditions rather than only exploit these areas for monetary gain.
Would you go on a slum tour of Mumbai? Do you think this newly-found interest in touring the slums will be benefecial or rather harmful to these areas?
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About the Author
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- From: anne
- Name: anne
- About Me: Age: 27, Location: New York, NY Favorite places I've visited: Trick question! I've been to so many amazing places, but if I absolutely had to pick, I'd settle on a couple places to shorten the list. Madrid, Spain because that's where I did my study abroad program when I was 18 and it was there that the travel bug bit me so hard it left a scar. I haven't been the same since. And Vietnam. That's where my family is from. Although, I'm Vietnamese American, I never actually visited Vietnam until I was 26. It was an awesome experience to learn about my family's history and I was quite pleased to show off my vietnamese language skills to the locals. It's quite a big deal for an american-born.
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Comments (11)
I love Slumdog Millionaire. It's a great movie and also gives a great look into Mumbai. I would do a tour of the area. It'd be neat if they had a Slumdog tour.
i personally have been to India, all over and i loved it there. i would definitely go back and walk through the towns. i'm not sure if it would benefit them or not, probably more so help, i'd imagine
It's really a great experience to stay for a week in slums there in Mumbai.
We have what you call immersion in our school. Then we stayed for a couple of days in a very poor barangay. There we lived with foster parents so we were foster children too. After the immersion, i realized that there are many people who are starving nowadays. It is sad that they can't afford to give their children the best education. Even if they work very hard, they receive less salary (1 dollar is okay for them each day).
I was lucky to have good foster parents. They treated us like their own family. They make sure we were safe all the time. At the end of our immersion, i knew that they fed us their pigs and chickens because they can't afford to buy food in the market. I miss them soo much. I will never forget them.
I felt happy and sad when we leave. They taught me that money can't buy happiness and love.
Having a tour of the slums would be a great way to help out the poverish area. If more people are aware, more people will try to help out, and it'll generate money for the people there. Slumodg Millionaire was a great movie.
passe.
Harmful. . .and slums. . .if you're in the slums, I don't see how it could get much worse. I think it would be beneficial because more people could learn about it and hopefully help contribute towards making these people's lives better. Although I think a lot of people have the attitude: they don't want to hear about it because it bothers them to think about it. Sorta like people don't save animals from the pounds because they don't want to go there and actually see animals that will be put to sleep if they're not bought. You know what I mean? Anyways, I would go, and hopefully I could help.
@ijustlovelea@xanga - it sounds like you had a really great eye opening experience. sometimes the best traveling experience are those we learn from and not necessarily all about shopping and partying.
@anne - yeah. i agree
I love nature adventures because it really misses so much and it brings unforgettable experiences. I remembered last year when my family had a vacation in a resort where there are waterfalls. When we were under the falls, my cousin and i slid through a rock and we were drowned. haha!! i could remember how it feels. i won't forget it. It gave me a lesson that i should be more careful.. :))
I've yet to see Slumdog, but I'm not sure if a "slum" tour would sit right with me. If the reason behind the tour was to educate, then maybe, but I'd be completely against it if it turned out to be a "And if you look to your left, you can see a slum, just like in the movie!"
Im so going there when I see my boyfriend
and he lives in mumbai
I think it is a great idea, but only if the people who live in the slums are benefiting from it. That is to say the money being earned is going towards making the lives of the people that live there better in everyway possible. Something tells me that this is not the case though.