Danni #614 The City of Dreamers How does Dharavi work? Dharavi is the worlds biggest slum.

It lies in the middle of Mumbai Indias largest city. More than one million people live in Dharavi, but is only one square mile. Food is scarce; there are no clean bathrooms, and many diseases. Yet, all of these people can still survive, and produce one million goods a day. The people of Dharavi in order to survive have all developed a culture of cooperation. In the first instance, Laxmi is a mother living in Dharavi. Even though she doesnt have the best life, she keeps on dreaming and helping others. Laxmi works in Dharavis biggest industry, rag picking. Being a rag picker is a very dangerous job. She must face getting cuts on her hands, poisonous fumes, and diseases. The job does pay well enough for her to provide for her and her daughter Sheetal. She gets paid one hundred dollars a month. Sheetal her nine year old daughter has great confidence in her mom. She wants to be exactly like Laxmi. Never give up. Laxmi hopes that Sheetal will be able to become a bright young girl and become something better than a rag picker. In the second instance, there is a father who has a great outlook for his son Jigha. Jigha is a twelve year old boy who also lives in Dharavi. His father has his own tailoring business. Jighas father does everything he can for him. He loves to study and go to school. When he is older Jigha wants to be a scientist. He says that not all the scientists have to be rich and live in the big city, and that even a person from Dharavi can become one. Even though Jigha lives in Dharavi, nothing has ever stopped him from dreaming. In the third instance, there is a rickshaw driver named Shailesh. Shailesh has a big dream of

becoming an actor in Bollywood. His first priority is his two children. Shailesh makes 240 dollars a month which pays for his childrens education, and his acting classes. His motto is, I wont give up. To achieve his goal he will have to take many different classes and get discovered by a producer. Shaileshs acting coach has put him in music videos to help fulfill his dream. Just like Jigha, even though he lives in a slum, he never gives up. Still, the people of Dharavi have a need to survive, they have all developed a culture that cooperates, and helps each other. Even though all those people are living in a terrible condition they keep on dreaming. In 2007 a proposal was made that Dharavi would be torn down because it was preventing Mumbai from becoming a mega city. Even though most people in Dharavi are poor, it is sitting on a piece of land that is ten billion dollars. The people of Mumbai are still deciding today weather to keep Dharavi or tear it down.