Dharavi and Gurdwara

When asked to pick one emotion that summed up today, I struggled with one word that could fully capture today. As the girl who loves the environment on campus, our visit at Dharavi was an amazing experience. Walking into the tour with a lot of nerves and apprehensions about what the day would entail, I was pleasantly surprised by the amazing people we saw in the slum. Our tour guide, Jinna, explained to us exactly what a slum was, and how the slum is extremely high functioning in the industry of recycling. We saw men working to collect and recycle plastics, aluminum, and other scrap metals. Dharavi is one square mile with a population of one million people, and has surprises around every corner. This community produces puff pastries, aluminum blocks (that are later turned into motorbike and car engines), and even leather handbags. After long walks through narrow passageways, we took a trip to the school in the slum. Our visit to the school included Johnnie and I teaching the eighth grade class how to "crank that soulja boy", a dance we used to do when we were kids. They laughed, and danced, and filled our hearts with their smiles. The slum was an experience that can never be forgotten, and I will never forget our guide. Following our trip to the slum, we had the pleasure of meeting up with Kabir's grandma at a Sikh temple and learn about their culture, worship, and service. An amazing lunch followed by a relaxing meditation session brought everyone some well needed down time. We observed people in the temple who were in long periods of prayer (some people pray for six hours a day, some for three days straight) and really got to take in all the aspects of the religion and culture. After some much needed downtime by the pool, we went off to dinner. However, we made a stop on the way to see the beaches of Mumbai, and the beautiful skyline. It was the perfect opportunity for a photo shoot! A delicious dinner ended the day perfectly. A day full of culture and new experiences, and we get to have another one tomorrow.