Adventurous tourists now have the chance to experience “real” life in a Mumbai slum.
For 2,000 rupees (£22) a night, “slum hotel” guests can stay with a host family in one of the poorest areas of India’s largest city, as part of a scheme developed by Dutch NGO worker David Bijl.
The “authentic” tourist experience does come with a few perks beyond the reach of the average Mumbai slum resident - the guest annexe in the one-room home Sansi shares with 13 relatives has been equipped with an air-conditioning unit and a flat-screen TV.
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They will also be encouraged to spend mealtimes with their host family.
“We would be very happy if they eat with us,” Sansi said, “but we can also direct them to a nearby restaurant.”
Sansi says he has been convinced of the potential of forging connections between slum families and foreign visitors since a chance encounter with a Singaporean tourist in 2015, which ended with the young woman staying with Sansi and his family.
“She slept in the same bed as my bhabhi [sister-in-law], learned to cook and would wash her clothes sitting with my mother in the doorway,” he told Times of India. “She cried when she left because she was so happy to have met me.”
Detractors have criticised the scheme as an example of “poverty tourism”, says The Daily Telegraph, “saying it treats people who live in slums like ‘animals in a zoo’”.
However, Bilj claims that the world’s first “slum homestay” will offer tourists a genuine understanding of life for Mumbai’s poorest families and result in a “positive impact for both sides”.
“Here, you are actually staying with Ravi's family, you are learning about their lives,” he told Times Now. “You're not just passing by and taking a selfie for your Facebook page.”
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