A Sufi's Journey...: Dharavee - The Slums of Mumbai (Part II)

The view from our car.

The kids who live there

So after we rushed to the safety of our cars and started to drive through the streets around Dharavee, we saw this empty shell of what used to be a parcel of storefronts. I asked Ganesh, our driver, to pull over so that I could get a closer look.

As I stepped out of my car with my camera around my neck, Aly followed me. The children who just moments ago were absorbed in their play, were now excited that a car had stopped by their "home

and that people actually were there to see their space.

At first, they looked at us kinda shy and curious but once they decided that we were "safe" they opened their streets-side home to us and proudly gave us a tour.

This is their front porch, old cigarettes butts, cow and dog poop, dirt, dust, garbage...not to mention the crazy traffic and smog and sounds of the cars and the honking and strangers walking by their open home.

Just imagine, this is his front yard, back yard, play area, etc...

These old sheets covered the floors determining their home vs the street just steps away.

Their kitchen, living room, dining room, bedroom and even their bathroom was all in the area under the roof and just on the street in front.

There were piles of garbage just lying around in heaps while these large sacks with something in them were stacked against the back wall.

They showed us their pet rabbits and the newborn rabbit babies.

Aly told me not to touch the rabbits or get too close since they had rabies. But these kids proudly held the rabbits up long enough for me to take a few pictures.

Their kitchen just off the street where a makeshift stove made with putting together a few large stones and burning some wood held the pot containing lunch.

These 2 adults were in the middle of preparing lunch. The person in the blue is in fact a man dressed in a saree and obviously living as a woman. He/she was very skeptical of us and never made eye contact. I stayed clear of him and was extremely respectful of them and their home.

So this is a larger picture to put things in perspective. Check out the stove and then the busy traffic on the street just steps away.

Newborn pigs.

The children proudly show off their pet dogs taking an afternoon name under the wooden cart. These are obviously street dogs. Check out the rabbi on top of the cart.

Check out the plastic sheets covering the walls and the bags of stuff (maybe garbage, maybe clothes).

More garbage.

This is one of my favorite pictures from this trip.

Another favorite...Look at the possibilities in their eyes.

More garbage...

The other side of the space...clothes hanging off a makeshift clothesline

These guys were just kinda hanging around the monkey.

And these kids are barefoot in this filth.

Almost didn't see this young mother rocking her baby to sleep in a swing made of old sarees.

What will he grow up to be?

There were piles of shreds of colored cloth...

The young men around the pet monkey.

And there was a puppy...

I love animals, especially dogs..but I was conflicted between feeling sorry for the children and /or the puppy...or should I be like the rest of the locals and not feel sorry for either of them...I could just pretend they don't exist.