'Poorism' in Dharavi, India

poorism n. Travel that includes tours of or accommodations in slums or dangerous urban neighborhoods.

poorist n. An individual who pays for guided tours of poverty-stricken regions

Travel can be the best way to understand differences in culture. It is one thing to read about exotic places yet quite another to wonder if that bite on your arm was from one of those nasty tropical creatures you've read about. The experience of physically being in a foreign place invites tangible realities.

Enter a new brand of tourism: poorism. More travelers are trading day-trips - like bungy jumping over a gorge or visiting ancient ruins - for guided tours of places that aren't typical vacation destinations: the world's most poverty-stricken regions.

Reality Tours & Travel in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) offers 'poorism' tours to the Dharavi settlement, what is often described as the biggest slum in Asia. Half the size of Central Park in New York, Dharavi is home to nearly one million people and about 10,000 unregulated factories.

In Dharavi there are open sewers, no drainage and no official infrastructure for basic needs like garbage removal. According to the World Bank Institute, there is about one toilet per 1,500 people in Dharavi and families of fifteen rely on one water tap which works for about two hours each day.

For about the equivalent of two days worth of the average Dharavi resident's income or $7, Reality Tours & Travel will take the visitor on a three-hour tour through the area. Or for a little more money, your group can ride through in one of the two air-conditioned SUVs owned by the tour company.

It is a strange sightseeing tour: part voyeurism, part enlightenment. And the growing trend is controversial. In 2006, the Indian television Times Now called the tours nothing but "a way to cash in on the 'poor-India' image" and an invasion of privacy.

The critics contend that the operators of 'poorism' tours are treating humans like animals and some state lawmakers are threatening to shut them down.

Still the market exists. Reality Tours & Travel guided small groups of foreigners through Dharavi on almost every day throughout the 2006-2007 holidays. They advertise the expeditions on their website but mostly it is word of mouth that keeps the business growing with visitors from around the world.

Christopher Way, the British entrepreneur who runs the Dharavi 'poorism' tours, intends to donate 80% of tour earnings to a charity that works in Dharavi once Reality Tours & Travel starts making a profit. His business also offers conventional sightseeing as well as some travel planning. His partner, Poojari, is Indian, an intentional choice that provides some leeway with local authorities and residents.

The company does not allow photographs on tours and limits each slum-tour group to five people. And Mr. Way claims that the intent of the 'poorism' tours is to enlighten travelers and dispel stereotypes.

In a recent interview with Smithsonian magazine, Mr. Way told journalist John Lancaster "We're trying to dispel the myth that people there sit around doing nothing, that they're criminals. We show it for what it is - a place where people are working hard, struggling to make a living and doing it in an honest way."

The Reality Tours & Travel excursions do highlight Dharavi's industry and despite the squalor, there is a thriving entrepreneurship driven economy.

Thousands of businesses in Dharavi produce everything from export quality leather goods, garments, jewelry, processed foods and plastic products. The hundred year old settlement is a production hub that generates over $600 million annually in the global economy. The businesses provide a livelihood for the thousands of people who live there - an average monthly income in Dharavi is about 3500 INR or about $80 USD.

Most of the 4,000+ businesses and factories in Dharavi are unregulated or illegal. Workers have little protection from exposure to toxic chemicals or job-related injuries. There are laws limiting employment of children under 14 years old. Although the 'poorism' tourists don't see many child laborers on their tours, its not clear if the law is being abided or that children work out of the view of curious, foreign onlookers.

The vibrant informal economy in Dharavi doesn't eclipse the desperate living conditions. Furthermore, Dharavi is a community, a close-knit community, of people who fled the unemployment of India's countryside only to be met with a lack of affordable housing in Mumbai.

The Dharavi settlement's economy runs parallel to India's expanding economic growth that is experiencing 6% growth per year. Although some of this trickles down to Dharavi, it is mostly India's middle class that has benefited. A third of India's population - about 300 million people - still lives below the poverty line.

The growth is encroaching on Dharavi in a threatening way. Located on prime real estate, the settlement has been neglected by the city for decades but recent interest in development has spawned the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority. Just recently, the first bank opened in Dharavi. One of the most intriguing aspects about the Dharavi economy is that it has developed without any official capital or bank loans.

Dharavi's complexity is what Reality Tours & Travel slum-tours promote. And Mr. Way's business isn't the only active 'poorism' company nor is Dharavi the only place where the tours exist. Delhi, Rio, Soweto, NYC, Belfast and Rotterdam all offer versions of 'poorism' tours. Some are run directly by charities and others, like Reality Tours & Travel, are run by travel companies who donate locally.

Regardless of the intent, the morality of these tours remains in question. They display the plight of other human beings and in an intrusive manner as the watched are well aware of the wealthy 'poorist' visitors, rich westerners who've paid a few dollars to see how some of the poorest people in the world live. Or as some 'poorists' say, "to experience their lives."

The obvious reaction is that a three hour guided tour comes to an end while the experience of life as a Dharavi resident belongs to those that live there. 'Poorism' may be enlightening westerners, generating understanding and even bringing resources to Dharavi but at what cost? It is a voyeuristic endeavor.

The Indian government is optimistic about the future and has set a goal of 10% economic growth this year. Whether those initiatives will reach into the streets of Dharavi will only be revealed through time. The tours may be designed to build awareness of the plight of India's poor but they just might be a new kind of tasteless exploitation.

Dharavi has existed for a century and its extreme living conditions are known worldwide. If it's necessary for every foreigner to see abject poverty up close to initiate change, there's going to be a lot of resources wasted. Do the 'poorism' tours improve standard of living in Dharavi? Perhaps in short bursts - an extra meal for instance. But claiming that the end justifies the means has yet to sit well with many critics.

In the end, 'poorism' reveals what is already known: separate is not equal. What the tours overlook is what can't be seen and what is most difficult to maintain as one of the world's poor: dignity. The residents of Dharavi may not have much in the eyes of westerners, but for some reason westerners are paying to catch a glimpse.

Sources

John Lancaster "Next Stop, Squalor" Smithsonian Magazine, March 2007

http://www.wordspy.com/words/poorism.asp

Karishma Vaswani "Growth gives hope to India's poor" BBC News, April 18, 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4918582.stm

Ajit Ranade "Dharavi gets it first bank" Mumbai Mirror online, February 10, 2007 http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article§id=44&contentid=200702100258387885196c98