India's
largest city is known for both the poverty of its slums and the
richness of its history, museums, nightclubs, restaurants and street
food.
The
profile of the Dharavi slum in Mumbai,
one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the world, may
have risen when it was showcased in the Oscar-winning movie “Slumdog
Millionaire,” but my tour guide didn’t particularly care about
that at the moment. What concerned him more was the pejorative nature
of the word “slum” and how outsiders perceived Dharavi, an area
smaller than New York City’s Central Park but where about a million
people live and work. (Business
Standard)
“We
don’t want people to think slums are dangerous and full of lazy
people,” said Hitesh Vaidya, a guide for Reality Tours and Travel.
The reality of daily life in Dharavi is sobering, however: Laborers
work in unsafe conditions, and a lack of basic services like clean
water and sanitation facilities endangers the health of residents.
Mr. Vaidya and I spent the next couple of hours touring the many
different industries and businesses within Dharavi, which included
plastics recycling, textile manufacturing and food production. I left
with a better knowledge of both the poverty and industriousness of
Dharavi, as well as an understanding of Mr. Vaidya’s point: that
the two are not mutually exclusive.
Mumbai
(sometimes called by its former name, Bombay) is an electric and
complicated city, an extraordinary place, both uplifting and
heartbreaking. Its eclectic composition of different groups and
cultures makes it a difficult city to define, but for many, it’s a
city that represents possibility. Dharmesh Gandhi, a friend who lives
in Mumbai, offered his take on India’s financial center and one of
the world’s most populous cities: “It’s like New York,” he
said. “Everything is happening here, so everyone wants to come
here.”
After
a four-day visit this past October, it was easy to see why: The
shopping and entertainment options were excellent, and opportunities
for great dining were second-to-none. And while the rupees flow
freely in Mumbai, I was able to keep my spending under control.
A
couple of logistical items: My flight, booked through Jet Airways,
cost a bit over $200 for a one-way flight from Sri Lanka. As I was
re-entering India, I had to produce my double-entry e-visa once more
to passport control. My Uber ride from the airport was about 370
rupees, or a little more than $5. If you’d prefer not to use Uber,
another popular service is Ola Cabs. I used both while in Mumbai,
typically opening both apps and using whichever had a car closer to
me. The ubiquitous tuk-tuk is conspicuously absent in much of Mumbai
(“The traffic here is bad enough,” Mr. Gandhi told me). In
central Mumbai, you’ll just see regular taxis. Fortunately, they’re
metered, with fares beginning at 22 rupees.
I
was well-located in the Fort neighborhood of the city, close to the
Chhatrapati
Shivaji Maharaj Terminus railway station, the huge Victorian
landmark constructed in the late 19th century. My quarters at the
Hotel Residency Fort, Mumbai, booked for $52 a night on Hotels.com,
were modest luxury, roomy and air-conditioned, and with free
breakfast.
A
walk around the neighborhood was the first order of business: A stop
by Mumbai’s first Anglican church, St. Thomas Cathedral,
established in 1718, was followed by a visit to the free Jehangir Art
Gallery near Wellington Fountain. I enjoyed the Nayanaa Kanodia
exhibition, “The Quintessential Woman: A Celebration,” which
featured oil paintings and drawings celebrating feminism. Another
exhibition, “Rural Beauty,” featured darker, more sensual pencil
and pastel works by Parshuram B. Patil.
