Today we finished our final presentation.Still feel there's something more we want to say.
Closed my eyes, I can still see the lively scene of life in Dharavi, still heard the Indian music, still smelt the genuine curry...
This is the first day we arrived in Mumbai~
Closed my eyes, I can still see the lively scene of life in Dharavi, still heard the Indian music, still smelt the genuine curry...
This is the first day we arrived in Mumbai~
I remembered the first day we arrived, the heat from the sun, the flow of people in the street, kids around us begging for money, etc. And the first time we saw pavement dwellers, I was shock by the population density in those small huts along the road in the centre of the city.
More than 10 people lived in a small single room. No infrastructure at all. There were so many kids left home, some just 8 or 9 years old were taking care of the younger brothers/sisters, some already helped with the housework or helped earn money... Life in those houses is never easy. I felt kind of guilty for the good living conditions I was borned with.
Great entry stella,
ReplyDeletei know just what you mean about feeling guilty. I think that it has been a load that all of us have had on our shoulders from the day we checked in at the Sahil. I reckon that most have seen homelessness before, but it takes a very different dimension when it reaches the extend it did right outside our hotel door. When you see kids, often very young, living on the curb with their entire family- it's hard not to react. I walk by homeless people everyday back in my hometown, but their poverty is one of food and shelter, never of clothes, and never experienced by entire families -
I remember being walked home from Basilico to our second hotel in Colaba (the one where we could see the harbor and all of south bombay from our top floor room) by a team of kids, gently tapping our shoulders, repeating 'no mama, no papa', trying to get anything from us... Being exposed to this everyday, you either get cold or get guilt... either way, you don't sleep well...i know i didnt anyways.
benjamin