Despite the rising popularity of India’s slum tours, activists have raised their voices against slum tourism enterprises which they feel encourage an unabashed and unhealthy interest in poor people’s lives.
“It is voyeuristic, the worst form of exploitation of the poor,” asserts Subha Mazumdar, a Delhi University professor. “Such tours are a crime against poverty and an affront to the dignity of slum dwellers.”
The critics have even coined a pejorative moniker —“poorism’’ — for it. But then, is it? Point is, if the residents themselves don’t mind such intrusions into their privacy, who are we to object?
As Krishna Poojary of Reality Tours, puts it, “Our tours are not aimed just at showcasing Dharavi’s poverty but its spectacular growth and industrial production.”
Krishna states that almost 80% of the slum tour profits go to a local charity, Mesco (Modern Education and Social Cultural Organisation) which operates an English-speaking and vocational course school in Dharavi.
But then, activists argue, if the organisers are indeed so concerned about the welfare of the underprivileged, there are other ways to help. Like raising funds or lobbying for the rights of slum dwellers for a better life.
However, despite the crossfire of angry exchanges between its advocates and opponents, tourists coming to India feel that to savour a slice of the country’s “real life” there’s nothing better than a trip to the slums!
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