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 A Reflection on National Geographic: The Real Slumdogs

Carter DuBois

English 6

1/17/2014

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Dharavi is a slum in the middle of Mumbai, India, with over 1 million people in a 1 square

mile block of towered up, crowded huts. Although it sounds like the worst place in the world,

it is actually one of the most industrial

 places in the world. It makes over 1

million dollars every day, and this plot

of land is a realtor ’s dream, costing

over 10 billion dollars. “Dharavi is a

 bond of working class solidarity.”1 

Even as a slum, people in Dharavi

succeed because of their hard work.

There are three main people in this story. Laxmi is a rag picker who lives with her daughter.

Jigha is a boy who lives with his father in a tailor shop. Furthermore, is Shailesh, a father of 3

kids.

Two ordinary hard working people in Dharavi are Laxmi and Sheetal. Laxmi is a single

mom who works hard every day to make money to provide for Sheetal, her daughter. Her job

as a rag picker is tough, but in the end, she earns enough money to provide for her daughter ’s

education. If Sheetal is able to grow up and make it out of Dharavi, then she can make her

mother more proud then she already is.

 Next is Jigha; he is a normal 12-year-old boy in Dharavi who lives with his dad. Jigha is a

 boy who goes to school at Dharavi. When he goes home, he studies with his father. His father

works in a tailor shop in his own house. When Jigha goes to school, every day he dreams

1 Kalpana Sharma. National Geographic: The Real Slumdogs. CD ROM. Directed by Steve Baker. San

Francisco, CA: Independent Television Service, 2010. 

Google Images - Dharavi

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about becoming a scientist. “Every child has potential. We have to give them hope.”2  After

school, he does his homework and studies hard while watching his father make clothes. If

Jigha can become a scientist, then everyone else In Dharavi can follow his or her dream as

well.

Finally yet importantly is Shailesh. He wants to become an actor and partake in Bollywood.

He also provides for him family while doing so. Shailesh is a man who works to support his

kids, his wife, and his dream. Supporting his family is not a hard thing to do; he is a rickshaw

driver, driving around the people of Dharavi in a 3-wheeled cart. He is a hard worker and a

dreamer. His acting instructor says he has a chance in making it famous.

Dharavi can succeed even though it is a slum; it is just like a gigantic school, always working

together.

Even though there are people who want to be famous. Want to become a scientist, or just to

 provide for her daughter. No one starves in Dharavi. The future of Dharavi is that it is most

likely going to stay as a slum; they would never dislocate a million people.

2  Krishna Pogari, co-founder of Reality Gives. 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

National Geographic: The Real Slumdogs. CD ROM. Directed by Steve Baker. San Francisco, CA:

Independent Television Service, 2010.