Jaipur, also known as the Pink City, is one of my all time favorite spots in India. It's filled with intricate paintings, Moghul architecture, and delicious naan bread. It's also really likely you'll see elephants and cars driving together on the roads, which makes everything so much more enjoyable for some reason.
After Jaipur, we headed over to Bombay for New Years and some city exploring. It was in Bombay that we encouraged my family to step out of their tourist bubble for a day and take a tour of the most densely populated slum in all of India, Dharavi.
India is nothing if not a country of dichotomies. And perhaps the most obvious one, is the cataclysmic gap between rich and poor. For anyone interested in visiting this crazy sub-continent we call home, I highly recommend making sure you see both sides of India. Most tourists come and go without actually seeing what life is like for nearly 2/3 of the population.
The tour was organized by Be The Local, an organization founded and operated by Dharavi residents. Our guide was a 19 year old college student who was born and raised in the slum. He was awesome.
We learned that the slum is actually a really vibrant center for recycling, pottery, and many other industries. Nearly $1 billion worth of products come out of Dharavi every year. Tragically, very little of that money actually gets funneled back to the hundreds of thousands of people working long hours in these industries. Corruption in India is deeply rooted and ever present. There's no escaping its destructive forces, and in most peoples' opinion, very little hope for future change. Nevertheless, we found beauty where stereotypically there is none, and had our assumptions about "slum-life" challenged and changed.
For more information on Be The Local, visit their website here or read their mention in the NYTimes.
After Jaipur, we headed over to Bombay for New Years and some city exploring. It was in Bombay that we encouraged my family to step out of their tourist bubble for a day and take a tour of the most densely populated slum in all of India, Dharavi.
[Woman digging through trash, separating plastics out for recycling]
India is nothing if not a country of dichotomies. And perhaps the most obvious one, is the cataclysmic gap between rich and poor. For anyone interested in visiting this crazy sub-continent we call home, I highly recommend making sure you see both sides of India. Most tourists come and go without actually seeing what life is like for nearly 2/3 of the population.
The tour was organized by Be The Local, an organization founded and operated by Dharavi residents. Our guide was a 19 year old college student who was born and raised in the slum. He was awesome.
We learned that the slum is actually a really vibrant center for recycling, pottery, and many other industries. Nearly $1 billion worth of products come out of Dharavi every year. Tragically, very little of that money actually gets funneled back to the hundreds of thousands of people working long hours in these industries. Corruption in India is deeply rooted and ever present. There's no escaping its destructive forces, and in most peoples' opinion, very little hope for future change. Nevertheless, we found beauty where stereotypically there is none, and had our assumptions about "slum-life" challenged and changed.
For more information on Be The Local, visit their website here or read their mention in the NYTimes.
your photos are amazing. i'm always so hesitant to take a stranger's photo whether traveling or in nyc. how do you do it? do you ask for permission or are you just very inconspicuous?
ReplyDeletei loved going to juhu beach so many years ago as a teenager. i can only imagine how much fun it would be as an adult!
@Sheba, haha, I struggle taking strangers photos as well. But I've learned to just ask if I feel that they are uncomfortable. Generally in India though, people get *so* excited to have their picture taken, its no problem.
ReplyDeleteI definitely did not know that about the slum life, it's almost hard to imagine people living that way in this world... but even still, it is full of beauty, and people living lives, and (at least appearing to be) happy.
ReplyDeleteAnd i agree, there is something great about the idea of elephants and cars sharing the same road.
Chic on the Cheap
What a wonderful opportunity. I found the disparity between the overt wealth and extreme poverty the hardest thing about our visit to India. So much so it brought me to tears. We were fortunate enough to visit several local villages and schools off the tourist track, and were struck by the people we met.
ReplyDeleteEvery time you post photos of your travels it makes me yearn to travel to India. I have had two friends travel there, one for a family wedding and another who is currently there on an internship. Someday I hope to make it there myself!
ReplyDeleteKimia, these photos are beautiful! : ) The little girl on the stairs might be my favorite. And what a great tour project...I don't know if I'll ever be in India, but I'd love to see Dharavi if I'm ever there.
ReplyDeleteI love these photos, the kids are so beautiful. What a fun trip.
ReplyDeleteI just saw the documentary Slumming It by Kevin McCloud - a fantastic insight into how resourceful and organised slums in mumbai are. Great images!
ReplyDeleteThese are incredible! I'm a bit behind on my blog reading, but am so eager to go back through and see all of the photos from your recent travels. Totally living vicariously through you as I have not scratched the travel itch in far too long!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing experience - seeing the "rich" and the "poor". I'm sure it was an eye opening and difficult experience. I got teary eyed just reading about your experience! Thanks for sharing such amazing photos. xo
ReplyDeleteSuch a great post Kimia! I think India is drawing me back--it was the topic of conversation at Saturday dinner and I can feel myself wanting to return. How wonderful that you spent time not only in the beauty, but found beauty in the places where you didn't expect to find it!
ReplyDeletexo Mary Jo
Kimia your journey looks incredible. Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures!
ReplyDeleteI think you just blew my hesitations about visiting India out of the water. I love your perspective on things. Makes my heart and mind grow ten times bigger.
ReplyDeleteThese photos are beautiful, and the slums are even more breathtaking than the palaces, but it's the dichotomy that really shines in your photos. I think it's so important to really experience a country, and it can be too easy to shy away from someplace "scary" if you don't have a local guiding you.
ReplyDeletePS-no blogged photo of the ring, but I'm always happy to gush via email!
I have ALWAYS dreamed of going to Jaipur! Your photos are just amazing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful post, and such an eye opener as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Kimia.
I grew up in Bombay so still consider it 'my' city. Isn't Dharavi a most surprising place?
ReplyDeleteBe the Local and other projects alike are very important. When I'm going to India some day, I'll definitely do this!
ReplyDeleteKimia - the winter gray we get in portland has filled me with an all over (I hate to say this) boredom ... about everything. On saturday I was sitting at my coffee table and I must have looked at every single one of the pictures on your flickr. It filled me with such a sense of wonder. Thanks for giving me a window onto the world.
ReplyDeletebeautiful profile, love how you profiled both sides of India. Poverty and wealth is always side by side even in our 'developed' economies in the West.....we just hide it better. Haven't been to India, but its on my bucket list for sure.
ReplyDeleteyou have some lovely photos-and a lovely clean blog. I went to the Taj (and took the Golden Triangle route) some years ago-but it was before digital cameras and can't find any photos of my trip-I will just have to go back one day!
ReplyDelete(thanks for visiting my blog!)