“Nothing will go as planned in India. You have to go with the flow.”

Aroon Shivdasani, one of our project advisors, told me this back in October before we left for Mumbai. Indeed, the project has morphed in a healthy and organic way, but at times we have been left wondering what our purpose or goal is here. More specifically, there are days when I feel like we are doing everything just right for this project and then other days when I am lost in the storm that is Mumbai - a city on the move that is transforming before my very eyes. Despite this emotional, physical, and psychological roller coaster, Arun’s foreshadowing is spot on; when in India, things will change. The bottom line is that it’s difficult, if not impossible, to make sense of everything that’s going on here - both in India and more specially in Dharavi. I’m sure we all will be processing the information being gathered and sensory overload that is occurring for many months after our return home.

To force myself in a corner… If I had to summarize Mumbai up in one word it would be CONTRADICTIONS. And if I had to summarize Dharavi up in one word… it would be CONFRONTING.

Contradictions because of the obscene difference in wealth/poor that are juxtaposed right next to each other. Perfect example: the worlds most expensive private home was recently built in Mumbai and towers over dozens of shacks that don’t have running water and provide about 200 square feet for each family. That said, I think it’s great that everything is integrated instead of making private gated communities for the ultra wealthy like we do back home (although it seems the land shortage here is the main reason gated communities don’t occur). BUT - the contradictions are still mind-boggling. Another contradiction that has been obvious from the beginning is how many people in the slums don’t have bathrooms or running water but they will have a cell phone and a TV, and many family have satellite dishes! I l laugh little bit whenever I hear a cell phone ring and the ringtone is a Kanye West or Nelly song.

Confronting because the lifestyles of the homeless and poor are not hidden - they can’t be because there are so many of them. Every day I walk less than 10 minutes to our workshop in Dharavi, along side a very busy road. I can count no less than 75 people sleeping on the concrete sidewalks in that short walk… every single night. In the morning, they cook their food over campfires on the pavement and then sell handmade baskets all day long. But that’s just the tip of the confrontation idea… the big thing is that I’m struggling with the notion that places like Dharavi, and even places that are more intense that I can’t even imagine, are the necessary products of a consumer driven culture. All of our electronics, appliances, clothes, trinkets, and so many other things, are cheap because of 3rd world labor. If everything I owned was made by people earning a wage that supports the same lifestyle I have… I WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO BUY MOST OF THE THINGS I OWN! And I consider myself pretty conscious about this stuff. ie: support local businesses, reuse when I can, etc. But when you see how the labor market and business sector works in a slum and realize how globally connected these places are, it really puts things into perspective and forces you to confront that consumer reality.

If you have read this and have any thought reactions to the words CONTRADICTIONS or CONFRONTING, please leave a comment below about it.

In other news - we are more focused than ever with just under one month to go in Mumbai. We are going at full steam to prepare for our culminating multi-media exhibition on January 29th. In short, we are working to turn Dharavi into a sort of artistic wonderland for one special day. See the homepage for more info on that. If you still want to help us out, we are looking for a bit more funding to make the exhibition bigger and better and do a few more fun workshops with the kids. Check out this video on Kickstarter to see what I’m talking about.

Thanks!