Dharavi - A different world inside

 

Dharavi – A Different World Inside

Mumbai is a city where anyone can survive. A rich man can enjoy all the luxuries life has to offer, while a poor man can still find a place to live and a simple meal of vada pav to fill his stomach.

That is the magic of Mumbai.

My recent visit to Dharavi made me think deeply about life. I believe this is a place everyone should visit at least once in their lifetime. It is more than just a place. It is a school of life.

It quietly teaches us how blessed many of us are—to have a loving family, a roof over our heads, food on our table, and people who care for us.

From the outside, Dharavi looks like just another crowded chawl, something that has always been a part of Mumbai. But the moment you step into its narrow lanes, you enter a completely different world.

Many of the tiny houses, hardly a few hundred square feet in size, are home to large families. To make space, they have built two or even three floors, one above the other. Looking at them, I could not stop wondering how they were still standing. They looked fragile and unsafe, yet they held the dreams of thousands of families.

For many newcomers to Mumbai, Dharavi is the first place they call home. It offers the cheapest way to survive in an expensive city. People arrive with little more than hope and find a place to stay among thousands of others who have come chasing the same dream—a better life.

Some lanes were so narrow that only one person could walk through at a time. In many places, even the afternoon sun could not reach the ground. Electric wires hung everywhere. Open drains ran beside the houses. During the monsoon, sewage often entered the homes on the ground floor. Water pipes passed through these drains, making me wonder how safe the drinking water really was.

The public toilets, shared by hundreds of people every day, were difficult even for a visitor to enter.

And yet...

Life went on as if nothing was wrong.

Children laughed and played in the same narrow lanes. Women chatted with their neighbours. Vegetable sellers called out to customers. Fish vendors and meat sellers carried on with their daily business. People left for work in the morning and returned home in the evening. Life never stopped.

There were shops, restaurants, and small hotels just like anywhere else. Roadside vendors sold everything from snacks to daily essentials, and the narrow lanes were always full of people buying, selling, and going about their everyday lives. It felt busy, lively, and full of energy. But this is not what stayed with me. What touched my heart was something no camera can fully capture.

Dharavi is not just a slum. It is a city within a city.

Dharavi is made up of many small communities. People from different states, speaking different languages and following different cultures, have made this place their home. Each community has its own history, traditions, and skills that have been carefully preserved and passed on from one generation to the next.

There were schools nearby, but many families in Dharavi could not afford to send their children to school. For them, every earning hand mattered. Instead of studying, many children started working at a young age to help support their families.

To bring hope into their lives, social workers came up with a beautiful idea. They converted old buses into small classrooms where these children could learn. Along with basic education, they were taught useful skills, good values, and confidence. These classrooms became a place where they could dream of a better future, even if life had given them very few opportunities.

One thing surprised me the most—we could hardly find any beggars in Dharavi.

The locals explained why. Almost everyone has some kind of work. There is a job for nearly every person, according to their ability. A college degree is not always needed here, but skills are. The more skilled a person becomes, the more they can earn. Even those doing the simplest jobs earn enough to survive with dignity, without having to beg.

That is what makes Dharavi so special. People here do not wait for life to change. No matter how difficult their circumstances are, they live with dignity and keep moving forward.

Every member of the family contributes in some way. Almost every house has a sewing machine, pottery wheel, or materials for work that can be done from home. Women work whenever they can, and even children help after school.

Dharavi is believed to cover around 520 acres of land. It is divided into several different areas, each with its own community, culture, and type of work. Together, these neighbourhoods make up one of the most unique and densely populated places in the world.

 

·       Koliwada – The Fishing Community

As we entered Koliwada, the smell of fish filled the air. Fresh fish were being sold in the market, while rows of fish lay drying under the sun. The colourful houses, fishing boats, and busy fish market gave the place a unique charm and reminded me of Mumbai's rich coastal heritage.

Koliwada is the oldest part of Dharavi and home to the Koli community, the original fishermen of Mumbai. Long before Mumbai became a bustling city, the Kolis lived along the Mahim Creek and depended on fishing for their livelihood. Even today, the community continues to own a small stretch of land along the Mithi River.

Though surrounded by the crowded lanes of Dharavi, Koliwada has carefully preserved its traditions, culture, and close-knit community for generations

·       Kumbharwada – The Potters' Colony

Kumbharwada was one place that truly surprised me. There were many visitors like us, including foreigners, watching the potters at work with childlike wonder.

The sound of the spinning potter's wheel filled the air. Skilled artisans gently shaped a lump of clay into beautiful pots within minutes. Everywhere I looked, I could see pottery at different stages. Some pots were still wet, some were drying in the sun, while others were inside the hot brick kilns waiting to be baked.

Kumbharwada is the famous potters' colony of Dharavi, where generations of potters have been keeping this beautiful craft alive for more than a hundred years. Most of the families came from Saurashtra in Gujarat, bringing with them the traditional art of pottery.

Every home is also a workshop. During the day, it is filled with clay, potter's wheels, and kilns. At night, the same space becomes a place for the workers to sleep. The whole family works together to make clay pots, diyas, cups, and water pots that are sold across Mumbai.

Kumbharwada is a beautiful reminder that with patience, hard work, and skills passed from one generation to the next, a simple lump of clay can become a work of art.

·       Tholwadi – The Leather Community

Tholwadi is the leather-making area of Dharavi. The name comes from the Tamil word Tholu, meaning skin, and the Marathi word Wadi, meaning village. Years ago, this area was allotted to Tamil migrants for tanning animal hides, as it was a dirty, smelly, and highly polluting job. As the city grew and environmental rules became stricter, most of the tanneries were shifted outside Mumbai. Today, Tholwadi is known for leather manufacturing rather than tanning.

As we walked through the narrow lanes, we saw every stage of leather work. Pieces of leather were being cut, stitched, polished, and turned into beautiful bags, wallets, belts, jackets, and shoes. It was amazing to think that some of these products would eventually reach shops across India and even overseas, where people might proudly buy them without ever knowing they were made in Dharavi.

A few small shops displayed the finished products, each one reflecting the skill and patience of the craftsmen.

Like the other parts of Dharavi, every workshop had many purposes. During the day, it was a factory. Meals were cooked in one corner, and at night the same space became a bedroom for the workers.

·       The Garment Area – Where Fabric Becomes Fashion

The garment area of Dharavi is always full of activity. Almost every family is involved in some kind of garment work. Everywhere I looked, there were piles of fabric, people cutting cloth, sewing on machines, doing beautiful hand embroidery, fixing buttons and zippers, ironing finished garments, and packing them for delivery.

Most of the workers are migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, who have brought their stitching and embroidery skills to Mumbai. Every house seemed to have a sewing machine or an embroidery machine. Some specialized in machine stitching, while others created beautiful Aari work, hand embroidery, and bead designs.

One thing that surprised me the most was the level of specialization. No one tried to do everything. Each person focused only on the work they knew best. One person only cut the fabric or leather, another only stitched, while someone else specialized in embroidery, finishing, or artwork.

This division of work made them faster, more efficient, and produced better-quality products. It reminded me that true mastery comes from doing one thing well and doing it again and again.

These tiny workshops are family-run businesses where everyone contributes. The clothes made here are supplied to shops and wholesalers across Mumbai and many other parts of India.

Walking through these lanes, I realized that behind every beautiful dress we wear, there are countless hardworking hands quietly bringing it to life.

·       The Recycling Lanes – Giving Waste a New Life

This was the place I was most curious to see. I had often seen rag pickers collecting used plastic bottles and other waste from the streets of Mumbai, but I had never imagined where all of it finally went.

The answer was Dharavi.

Thousands of rag pickers collect plastic, metal, paper, glass, and other discarded materials from across the city. All of it eventually reaches the recycling lanes of Dharavi, where a whole new journey begins.

Inside the small workshops, the waste is carefully sorted, cleaned, washed, crushed, and converted into tiny plastic granules. These granules are mixed with colours, melted, and turned into raw material for making new products. Sometimes, the coloured granules themselves are packed and sold to factories. Every step requires skill, patience, and hard work. Every lane has a purpose.

Every community has its own story.

Hundreds of small industries run through these narrow lanes, giving work to lakhs of people. Everywhere I looked, someone was busy. Some stitched clothes. Some made leather goods. Others shaped clay, recycled plastic, printed, or created something with their own hands.

Very few people sat idle. Almost everyone earned a living. Men and women worked side by side, and even older children helped their families after school.

Life here is not easy, but people work with dignity, skill, and determination. Many earn enough to support their families, educate their children, and even send money back to their villages.

Their homes may be small, but their dreams are big.

Standing there, I realized something important. From the outside, many people see only poverty.

But when you walk through its lanes, you discover something much bigger—hard work, skill, resilience, and hope.

Dharavi is not built on concrete alone. It is built on millions of hardworking hands that refuse to give up.

That is the Dharavi I will always remember.

Siji