THE HUMAN Side of INDIA’S BIGGEST SLUM

But you’re going forward
Like electric cables
People work like that here, right?
This is clap-clap
Painting
He’s painting
Wow
Cameras here
There seems to be…
Only two storeys
Oh, he’s dyeing the clothes
And this is narrow
It is so mad here
Yeah
It is so crazy
Just entered Dharavi
One of the biggest slums in the world
This place here in Mumbai is
2.1 square kilometers
up to a million people live here
It’s one of the most densely populated
places in the world
And so it started as a fishing village
It was a fishing village
before the late nineteenth century
Mumbai’s economy exploded
people were moving in
So, people from all over India
moved in to Mumbai and Dharavi
It’s estimated that 50% of
Mumbai citizens live in slums
This is the most well-known and biggest one
My friend Shubham whom I just met
is going to bring us in
Bring us into the nooks and crannies
the little alleyways
He knows it really well so
that’s it, let’s go
What’s that?
I like it because it fits my head closely
It’s very comfortable and it protects
from sun a little bit
I might have a weird tan
at the end of the day though
That’s the dumping
She goes through
gets out the plastics, whatever
Some strong smells here, my friend
Yeah
Everything
Salam
Camera doesn’t capture but in this
environment
on one site
are like
hundreds of different stories going on
at once.
Different dynamics, different industries
people
just in like one snapshot
It’s quite simulating
This guy’s making chips, huh?
Check out this wiring situation here
Quite complicated
I see the CCTV cameras up there
Absolute madness here
They’re celebrating a marriage?
Yeah
Cool
This is a wedding
Namaste
It actually cools down a bit in here
Yeah
The temperature cools down a bit
Yeah and watch the wires
This is a children’s dress, right?
A little girl’s dress?
Yeah
You’re making?
Is this their family business?
A lot people work like that here, right?
They just work out of their apartment?
Sewing clothes
making pots or whatever, right?
Compared to
being on the main streets in Mumbai
this is actually quite enjoyable
Quite sane I’d say
It’s like uh…
Hindi rap, yeah?
Yeah
The kids were scared of me?
Yeah
I would be scared of me too
This is a nice space in here
I gotta say
You can see the structures here in Dharavi
And then there’s a wall
A nice garden
And it looks like they’re redoing this mosque
I think that’s what it’s
supposed to look like when it’s done
Actually, the first bit of silence
I’ve had in Mumbai
I hear no horns. No horns
Just birds
It’s quite big
Marble work over here
And so, when was this mosque
originally built?
228 years
In here, the neighborhood Dharavi
There’s no problems between
Muslims and Hindus?
Beautiful
Shubham had to go so I met
my new friends here
Shabil. Shabil, right?
Sahil
Joy
They’re gonna bring us deep
Yeah
into Dharavi, yeah?
Yeah
Watch out. Watch out guys
Let’s do this
Okay, back in, guys. Round two
Where we going now?
You bring us to your home?
Yeah
Okay
Let’s do it
Hello, namaste
Sahil
Your home’s up here?
Yeah, yeah
This is all your water, huh?
This is quite interesting, guys
It is humanity on top of each other
And you can see why it’s the most
densely populated
or one of the most populated
parts in the world
and we’re only talking 2 storeys
That’s the crazy thing
It’s not like it’s a big city going up
It’s just packed in
Puppies
What’s up, little guys?
Salam
Salam
And this is narrow
Wow
Okay, Sahil. Let’s check it out
Salam
Okay, can I go in?
It’s okay with the camera?
You sure?
Yeah, yeah
Cool jeans
Cool style you got there
Did you make those?
It’s fashion, yeah
You’re a fashionable guy
Yeah?
And we got an army, USA army
Look at this, USA forces
How did they let you over here?
Look at you
You’re a military man
Are you Muslim?
Christian?
Yeah
Really?
He’s Muslim?
Muslim?
Christian?
Sahil?
He is Muslim
We go in?
I can fit, man
Wow
Cool, Sahil
It’s the kitchen?
What’s up there?
Sleeping?
Yeah
Can we go or no?
No
Okay
So, this is the kitchen
and there’s room to sleep
You, your mom, your dad?
Mom
Nice fridge
What are you making, chef?
You’re the chef now
What are we gonna eat?
I’m just joking, I’m joking
Alright, we can go
Let’s go?
Your sister?
She needs her sleep
She’s working, okay
It’s very congested
you can’t get through there?
Let’s get back to some light here
Nice place, yeah
It’s wide
Oh, he’s dyeing the clothes
Namaste. Salam Alaikum
Dyeing the clothes
Oh, okay, got you
You like Sahil?
He’s a good guy, yeah?
I think so
Pigeons?
Yeah
Sure
Let’s go see pigeons
It is wild and exciting
and these kids are so cool
He’s what?
He owns the pigeons?
Oh, no way!
He’s painting the feathers
Okay, what do you do with the pigeons?
Baby pigeon
Yeah
So, what do you do with the pigeons?
Pigeon competitions
That’s cool
Doing stunts
Do you win? Do you win prizes?
Captain, pigeon captain
Yeah
Nice to meet you
Wow
Very interesting guys
This is like a sport here?
And does he sell the pigeons?
How much can you sell a pigeon for?
1,000 rupees?
You have a loving relationship, you guys
You’re cute together
You’re holding hands and beating
each other at the same time
That’s true brotherhood
Proud new dad
You have baby?
Papa
So, this is the local hospital in Dharavi
Hello, sir
Doctor
And their beds. So, it’s well set up
Nice ventilation
Good medicine
Bye bye
And that’s that tour
Pressing some boundaries right now
Got the approval though
Meeting these guys was the trick really
of making this happen
Oh, you have a very good selection of rice here
A little bit of everything
Beautiful shop
Namaste
Oh, Salam, Salam
It’s hard to, how do you tell if people
are Muslim or not?
Oh yeah, CCTV
You guys got cameras everywhere here
Yeah
There are a lot of cameras in Dharavi
Another one
Seems like there’s a proper order here
in order of life
You have all the CCTV cameras here
Yeah, yeah
There seems to be a very established
Very strong community
What about police? There’s police here?
So much crime here or no?
So, this leather is all made here in Dharavi?
Nice leather
Okay, go upstairs
Let’s do it
Salam
Salam
Peter
Peter?
Amin
Yeah
Cool shop you have, Amin
Very nice
You make all this leather in Dharavi?
Tell me about Dharavi leather
What is different about it?
What is good about it?
Pure leather product
2,000. What is that in dollars?
So, all these ropes hanging
I don’t know if they’re cables
like electric cables or ropes
That’s a rope, thank God
Here’s a cat
Salam
Okay, we’ve made it
You have a leather operation here
You’re tanning it?
And then you sell it on the market here, yeah?
You take it from this?
And then you dye it?
And then you sell it
So like one bag a day
or two bags a day?
You’re the big boss?
Very nice
Where do you sell these to?
To the markets here?
Really impressive what you guys are doing
It’s really cool
Very humbling
To run a business is hard
Right? It’s not easy
You need to have employees
You have to find the right people
You need to make sure the margins aren’t…
Very difficult, yeah
And you have a lot of competition here
A lot
So, respect, brother
Good job
Getting down is a little more difficult, yeah?
Okay
After you, brother
That’s how it’s done, huh, Joy?
Now I see why there are ropes hanging
Bye, guys
That’s a pretty extreme one guys
But you’re going forward?
I should go that way or should I go backwards?
Like this way?
Yeah
And that’s how it’s done
Where are we going?
Okay, let’s go
What a wild experience today
This is unbelievable
Unreal on here
I started off wondering where
actual Dharavi was
it looked like a normal neighborhood
in India, in Mumbai
But now we got into like the little channels
the little maze of it all
It’s unreal
This is all the fuel that gets
just delivered, right?
Delivered to the homes?
We’re looking for rappers
Yeah
Rappers. Hip hop
I’m interested to know you? Yes
You guys are both very cool
The weakness?
Yeah, it’s really surprising
It’s really surprising
I didn’t think you would have all
these cool things in it
I’m just showing what I see
And there’s a lot of cool stuff too, man
There’s a lot of cool stuff
A lot of cool people, you know
Yeah
This is cool
Yeah
It is so mad here
Yeah
It is so crazy
You guys are used to it
What?
The gym
The gym upstairs? Okay
What is that?
Oh, he’s sharpening the knives
What is this?
Rap stars
So at nights you have rap music here?
Okay, guys. The rap is not happening
Right? No rap?
They’re like filming right now?
And the reason I changed the cap
is because this is
the Hindu side, right?
What is that?
I didn’t catch all of that but there are
hat issues
Yeah
This is better right now, yeah?
Guys
That was quite an adventure with Sahil
Yeah!
And Joy
Yeah!
Wow!
Dharavi
What an interesting place
So what I learned?
What did I learn guys?
I learned that
there are a lot of entrepreneurs there
There are a lot of industrious people there
There’s a very tight community
Like a tight feeling amongst people
You have like 300 friends, I think?
Yeah
You guys know everyone
Yeah
It was quite spectacular to see that
and go into a different world than I know
So
Hope you liked that, guys
There’s probably a different take on
slum life
There’s very vibrant ecosystem of nice people
doing cool things and
I think that’s the side that
doesn’t always get shown
And we’re getting squeezed out cus it’s India
That’s what happens
So, until next video
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