Video: Slum Tours, Inc.
Is it exploitation? A business opportunity? Both? You won't find any "slumdog millionaires" in this dark corner of India.
NEW DELHI — On a random walk through Delhi’s bustling railway station, the gritty street kids are easy to miss: With forlorn looks, they mingle and scamper about, covertly snagging food from garbage cans and hustling for a few rupees at entryways.
Slumdog millionaires? Not here.
Though the hit movie has Oscar buzz and features the improbable rags-to-riches story of a kid’s rise from a Mumbai slum, life on the streets in Delhi betrays little sign of Hollywood glitz.
For those who want a closer look, a nonprofit kids’ charity called the Salaam Baalak Trust offers visitors to this sprawling capital city something quite unique in the annals of holiday excursions: a slum tour of the area around the station where upwards of 2,000 street kids dwell.
The 2-hour walks are chaperoned by former street kids themselves, who know the routes and the survival methods all too well.
The “city tours,” as they’re called, started in 2006, but the organization itself was founded in 1988 by celebrated filmmaker Mira Nair, director of “Salaam Bombay,” a film about street life in India.
In 2005, the organization even gave former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair an eye-opening tour of the grounds and introduced him to some of the kids.
Salaam uses the revenues from the tour — which costs about $4 — to help fund basic medical care and schooling projects for the kids.
There are no official statistics about the number of street children living in India, but rough estimates put the figure at around 11 million. There are about 100,000 street children living in Delhi.
Most kids survive by shining shoes or hawking trinkets and magazines. Some are coerced into joining organized gangs that earn money by begging on Delhi streets.
The stories of how these wayward children got here are varied: some ran away from abusive homes, others are orphans, and some come from families that can’t afford to care for them.
Somehow, by train, by foot or by stowing away on trucks, many end up here, living ragtag lives in the midst of India’s otherwise booming economy.
Watch other Mark Scheffler videos:
Paint it black: the current mood of India's art market
Recent on Commerce:
Teacher in a box: Outsourcing homework to India
Saritha Rai - India - November 20, 2009 16:28 ET
Need help with that term paper, young American? Meet Saswati Patnaik.
Back to the Azores: a brand-new world
Ken Shulman - Europe - November 20, 2009 10:25 ET
The reverse flow of migration to this small chain of Portuguese islands is a modern marvel.
Cuba tries to keep the lights on
Nick Miroff - Cuba - November 20, 2009 06:55 ET
Cuba gets plenty of oil from Venezuela. So why is it adopting "extreme measures" to avoid blackouts?
How can 39 million buffalo be wrong?
Jason Overdorf - India - November 19, 2009 06:30 ET
Indian farmers discover the beauty of mozzarella.
Analysis: Obama in China: It's about the money
Kathleen E. McLaughlin - China and its neighbors - November 18, 2009 10:57 ET
How, and why, Obama is treating the dragon differently.
Silicon Sweatshops: A promising model
Jonathan Adams and Kathleen E. McLaughlin - China and its neighbors - November 18, 2009 06:54 ET
There's no easy way to police supply chains in Asia. But one US high-tech firm and its Taiwan supplier are taking a creative approach that might just work.
Special report: Silicon Sweatshops
Jonathan Adams and Kathleen E. McLaughlin - China and its neighbors - November 17, 2009 15:05 ET
Despite strict "codes of conduct," labor rights violations are the norm at factories making the world's favorite high-tech gadgets.
.jpg)
What do you think about Silicon Sweatshops?
News Desk - China and its neighbors - November 17, 2009 15:04 ET
Are high-tech supply chains in Asia good business or exploitation? You decide.
Silicon Sweatshops: Shattered dreams
Jonathan Adams - China and its neighbors - November 17, 2009 07:24 ET
Migrant workers making gadgets at Taiwan's high-tech parks sign deals that make them modern-day indentured servants.
Silicon Sweatshops: The China connection
Kathleen E. McLaughlin and Jonathan Adams - China and its neighbors - November 17, 2009 07:22 ET
For migrant workers, an electronics factory job can be a ticket into China's booming middle class. But for many, it turns into a nightmare of poor working conditions and indifferent bosses.
Silicon Sweatshops: Disposable workforce
Jonathan Adams - China and its neighbors - November 17, 2009 07:22 ET
Laid-off Taiwanese workers accuse their firm of violating industry codes even when times were good.
Video: The Chinese on Obama
Josh Chin - China and its neighbors - November 16, 2009 19:16 ET
Japan’s downward spiral
Gavin Blair - Japan - November 16, 2009 18:17 ET
One in six Japanese are now poor. The new government has vowed to tackle the problem, but how?
Asia's pushback to big tobacco
Patrick Winn - Thailand - November 15, 2009 12:30 ET
The cigarette industry wants a bigger slice of Asia. Activists want them to butt out.
International visitors buoy US tourism industry
Susan E. Reed - Worldview - November 15, 2009 09:30 ET
Despite dreary economic times, a favorable exchange rate beckons foreign tourists to the majestic Grand Circle and beyond.
.jpg)
Obama in Japan: Reassuring an old friend
Justin McCurry in Tokyo - Japan - November 14, 2009 16:58 ET
America's first "pacific president" extends a hand. But it's not all smiles.
Obama in Beijing: What you will see. And won't see.
Kathleen E. McLaughlin - China and its neighbors - November 14, 2009 15:56 ET
In China, anything is possible. Nothing is easy.
How other US presidents handled the dragon
Kathleen E. McLaughlin - China and its neighbors - November 14, 2009 11:31 ET
From Nixon, to Ford, to Reagan, Clinton and both Bushes, dealing with China has never been simple.
On Location: Haryana — India's looming food crisis
Jason Overdorf - India - November 12, 2009 16:45 ET
Fat in Japan? You're breaking the law.
David Nakamura - Japan - November 11, 2009 08:40 ET
As the health care debate rages in the US, Tokyo lawmakers set a maximum waist size. Are you too fat for Japan?
Watch GlobalPost videos:
Reporter's Notebook
How did Obama’s big Cairo stopover play in the corridors of Chicago’s foreign policy intelligentsia? “I thought it was a really...Read more >
It’s the Little Engine That Could. Tata today announced it has 203,000 booked, fully paid orders for the Nano, it’s small uber...Read more >
When an outbreak like swine flu hits, certain public areas can start to feel more like scenes from "The Toxic Avenger." Denizens start...Read more >
Featured: Special Projects
After the Fall:
20 years since the Berlin Wall came down
Life, Death and the Taliban:
Videos and stories
Study Abroad:
Students report from the road
Living in the Shadows:
An intimate look at China's migrant workers
A World of Trouble:
The global economy in 20 hotspots
Global Blogs:
Comments:
No Comments.
Login or Register to post comments