Anyone who thinks all Mumbai slumdogs live in shit-infested hovels will be in for a big surprise. While on the outside the slums maintain their decrepit, stinky, smelly, fetid appearance - the inside tells a whole different story.
Mumbai boasts some of the top 5-star, designer-styled, 'slum-hovels'. Although no more than 300 sq. ft in size most of them come complete with marble flooring, air-conditioned interiors, mezzanine floors, sparkling kitchens, plasma-tv living rooms and all the latest mod-cons & gadgets!
This clever utilization of space, we're told, is a result of rocketing real-estate prices in this city. Rather than move out of familiar territory most slumdogs have decided it pays more to invest in their dwellings. Together with money (supposedly) sent by family living overseas many locals have re-converted former hovels into digs worthy of gracing the pages of Interior Decor magazines. There is no mention of whether such sudden wealth has any criminal connection - a thriving occupation category in many slums.
Local slumdogs - mostly squatters who migrated to the city generations ago and their children - say they feel 'comforted by their surroundings' and the 'friendship' of fellow slum-dwellers and that is why they have chosen to 'invest' in this form of 'real estate'.
But considering the growing criminal element in the city, racketeering and rampant corruption among local politicians is this a warning to law and order officials to keep tabs on these "Trojan horses"?
Slumdog-Part 2 Danny Boyle?
