Don’t Go Down There. It’s Not Safe.
I was having tea with two of my coworkers in the cafeteria of my office building. There are large windows all along the exterior walls, all were wide open, a breeze was flowing through, and we had a view of Mumbai proper across Mahim Bay. I pointed out the window and told my coworkers that I had walked down there on the shore of the bay, which is also on the “wrong side” of a highway, on my first morning in Mumbai. This was my ill-fated “jogging” adventure – the one where I walked around lost for almost 3 hours. My coworkers were surprised I had gone down there and said don’t go down there after dark. It’s not safe.
On this wandering adventure I could tell I was on the “wrong side” of the highway, and there was a tunnel under the highway to get to the “right side.” It was a long tunnel, full of trash and a few people sleeping on the ground, and I was like, “Shit, what’s going to be on the other side.” I walked right out into a slum. I was wearing my dorky jogging shorts and running shoes, and you better believe my legs are white white. This was a rude introduction to Mumbai. The slum wasn’t a large slum, and I was soon through it and back into “normal” Mumbai. There was a vacant lot next to the slum, and I think the entire slum is in the process of being demolished for more expensive real estate.
Earlier during that adventure, I also accidentally began venturing into Dharavi. If you saw the article in the May 2007 National Geographic about the slum in Mumbai, you saw Dharavi. It’s usually called Asia’s largest slum. One million people live in it. In some places the density is 18,000 people an acre (think about the yard at 5 Alsace Ct. – could you imagine 18,000 people living on that, in one and two story housing?). There is an aerial picture of Dharavi in that article, and the caption mentions how you can see the upscale suburb of Bandra in the background. Bandra is where I work. I only walked into the outskirts of Dharavi, however. I could tell I wasn’t heading to the sea, which is where I wanted to be heading. I turned around. Rude introduction for sure.
On this wandering adventure I could tell I was on the “wrong side” of the highway, and there was a tunnel under the highway to get to the “right side.” It was a long tunnel, full of trash and a few people sleeping on the ground, and I was like, “Shit, what’s going to be on the other side.” I walked right out into a slum. I was wearing my dorky jogging shorts and running shoes, and you better believe my legs are white white. This was a rude introduction to Mumbai. The slum wasn’t a large slum, and I was soon through it and back into “normal” Mumbai. There was a vacant lot next to the slum, and I think the entire slum is in the process of being demolished for more expensive real estate.
Earlier during that adventure, I also accidentally began venturing into Dharavi. If you saw the article in the May 2007 National Geographic about the slum in Mumbai, you saw Dharavi. It’s usually called Asia’s largest slum. One million people live in it. In some places the density is 18,000 people an acre (think about the yard at 5 Alsace Ct. – could you imagine 18,000 people living on that, in one and two story housing?). There is an aerial picture of Dharavi in that article, and the caption mentions how you can see the upscale suburb of Bandra in the background. Bandra is where I work. I only walked into the outskirts of Dharavi, however. I could tell I wasn’t heading to the sea, which is where I wanted to be heading. I turned around. Rude introduction for sure.
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