Slums of Mumbai to the towers of Singapore

Yesterday morning I finally escaped India. Humppppffffhhh

Ironically, my last day was probably the best. I went on the famous ‘slum tour’ of the Dharavi slums in Mumbai with Reality tours. The biggest slum in Mumbai and the highest earning, dubbed the economic miracle and even visited by Richard Branson, Dharavi has an economy of around $700m a year in recycling and manufacturing and about 1million slum dwellers in a tiny section of the city. The way these guys live and work is truly incredible. Narrow alleys and tiny buildings all perfectly functional like a normal city – running water, electricity – even schools and police, however incredibly incredibly poor.

First we saw the tiny micro factories which make heavy industrial crushing and smelting equipment to turn plastics and metals into raw materials. The slum kids and women go out in the day and scavenge the plastic and metal waste from the streets or dumps and bring it back to the slums. They also get sent loads of our ‘recycling’ from the UK. I saw bottles of toilet duck and cans of fosters waiting to be crushed. These guys have furnaces burning with no ventilation to melt down the cans. They also melt plastic bottles/toys/toothbrushes – you name it – dye it, draw it into strings and chop into pellets to re-sell to western plastic companies.

Further around the tour, you see where they live – basically the smallest bedsits in the UK you can imagine but 6-8 people living there. It’s really not as bad as you might think. Most houses are brick or concrete and seem pretty sturdy. Any slum built since 1995 is entitled to water and electricity – which is all of Dharavi. They have corrugated iron rooves usually with a tarpaulin for extra protection, a small kitchen and usually a TV and some even a computer. There is no overstating how small these are – 3mx3m perhaps but they are functional. The smell can be quite bad in places – especially near buildings where they kill and skin animals, and I saw one or two rats, but there isn’t raw sewage running through the streets as is common perception. Most of the narrow alleys have a covered drainage channel.

The best bit was actually talking to the slum dwellers about life and the problems they face. They love life there and many don’t want it to change. The community aspect is strong – there is no crime or drugs and everyone gets along well. They earn more than the average indian – most 3000 rupees but some up to 7000 rupees a month. The average is 1500 rupees in the villages, which is why so many life there. The problem is corruption.

The authorities want to knock the slums down and build towerblocks in their place. Where this is happening, the slum dwellers are promised one of the new apartments but then are never given it or have to pay bribes. Everyone we spoke to described corruption at every level. From police who need paying off not to shut down the tiny factories to doctors who won’t treat patients without a bribe and worst of all for me – teachers who don’t turn up for work or send in unqualified friends in their place (but get paid regardless).

It’s very sad but is life for them. It’s how the system works. They are all resigned to the fact that the corruption isn’t going away and is so ingrained in society that you’ve just got to play the game or get fucked over. Several people commented that if the corruption went everything would be perfect. The money is there for every child to go to school and every person to receive healthcare – however nothing works properly because the money is squandered, embezzled or simply stolen by the corrupt police, council workers, schools and hospitals.

I borded the plane to Singapore and as we taxied out to the runway past the sprawling slum overlooking the airport, I felt a huge wave of relief come over me. I had fun in India and have no regrets going, but i was so relieved to be heading for some normality. If I ever go again I won’t visit a single big city.

On the bus into Singapore I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. Singapore is urban perfection. Bland concrete towerblocks, wide clogged roads and large artifical gardens and golf courses – capitalist, western, 21st century perfection. One month ago, I would have frowned with disgust at this monstrosity but not now. Not today. It was just so good to be in normal society again. The best bit – NOT A SINGLE CAR HORN!!!!!!

I arrived in the ultra modern InnCrowd hostel and was immediately greeted by about 20 english guys and girls. We sat down with some family guy on the big TV, beers in hand and nattered about travelling, cracked jokes and chatted crap til about 3am. I totally missed out on the sights and delights of concrete city, but I’d found what i’ve been missing for weeks – normal people, normal food and a pint of beer!

I’m in Bangkok now – in the rain. The friendly thai staff at the hostel are all off to a big club at 11 and asked if I fancied it – which I most certainly do! Gonna go chill for a few hours before the bangkok partying begins! Bring on the ladyboys. Ooooh ladyboys!