An In-Depth Report of the 'Slumdog Millionaire' Tours

March 6, 2009 at 2:56 PM | by BS | 0 Comments

We wondered last month whether Slumdog Millionaire jaunts through Mumbai's slums were inspiring or exploitative, and now the London Paper is back from India with a full report on Reality Tours and Travel's excursion through the Dharavi slums where the movie is set. The verdict? Well, still complicated. Aspects of it do sound like kind of a creep-tastic thing to do:

...walking down the tightly packed warrens of the residential area seems hugely invasive. Families are packed into single rooms and squeezing past the open doorways feels like walking through someone�s living room � we hear the blast of a TV, mothers scolding their children and the clatter of pots and pans being cleared away�

But they also note the tours are run by locals and provide a much-needed economic boost to Dharavi:

The guides are all Mumbaikars, speak Hindi and have been conducting the tours from the start. The residents know them so it�s comfortable to ask questions, instead of feeling that you�re just there to watch. The kids are keen to chat with visitors � we talk about cricket, school and how we use similar biros, proving that six-year-olds everywhere can find �common ground with you.

So on the one hand it seems like a noble cause, taking some of the guilt out of your vacay by giving back to one of the world's poorest communities. On the other hand, poverty-gawking still seems a bit bizarre to us.

What do you think? Would you take a Slumdog tour?

Related Stories:
· In the footsteps of Slumdog Millionaire - taking a slum tour in Mumbai, India [London Paper]
· Reality Tours and Travel [Official Site]
· 'Slumdog Millionaire' Tour: Effective or Exploitative? [Jaunted]

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