Programme Overview

For Christmas last year I received on request from my parents a copy of international bestseller Shantaram, Gregory David Roberts epic biog-novel about his time as a fugitive, living in the slums of 1980s Bombay. This conveniently coincided with the release of Danny Boyle’s now infamous Slumdog Millionaire. The power and popularity of these two pieces of art I felt was the product of a passion evoked in both artists by Mumbai itself. Boyle’s and Roberts’ respective depictions of the city engrained themselves vividly in my imagination and left me with a burning desire to visit Mumbai.

When, therefore, I received an email from the study abroad department at my University, offering a three week, all expenses paid for, educational exchange to Mumbai, I leapt at the chance and my application was submitted the next day.

I was offered a place along with 99 other undergraduates from universities across Britain and so we found ourselves on the 22nd August, weary-eyed and jetlagged but buzzing with excitement, in the foyer of the four star West End Hotel, South Mumbai.

The Study India Programme, the product of the combined efforts of Kings College London, the University of Birmingham and the British Council has been designed to introduce young Brits to India in the hope that stronger ties are made between the two nations in the future. The programme was officially opened at the HR College of Finance and Commerce on the following Monday afternoon, where we were warmly welcomed by HR’s student ambassadors, the principal of HR and an Indian buffet dinner followed by an impressive display of traditional and contemporary Indian dance.

The pre-departure programme had promised the ‘full Indian experience’ with lectures at the college about Ghandi, Mumbai, the Indian language, economy and popular culture and an insight into manifestations of pre-modernity in India which was to include lessons in yoga, visits to museums and trips to sights of historical significance.

Day 1 proved controversial as we sat through a detailed overview of the Indian economy including its institutions and bureaucratic setup. It was jargon heavy and most of us, without academic backgrounds in economics, were ill-equipped to follow what was being said. We feared this lecture might set the tone for the whole programme, which was after all being arranged by a college of economics and commerce.

Thankfully that was not the case and we were re-engaged by a lecture on the social problems facing multi-cultural and multi-religious Mumbai and how India’s caste system is fading in significance as India surges towards modernity. The afternoon was spent on the coaches as we did a whistle stop guided tour of some of Mumbai’s sights of attraction; India gate, a Jain Temple and the Ghandi museum were definite highlights.

Day 2 began with a fascinating lecture on Ghandi, which bravely bi-passed the events surrounding independence and instead went into Ghandi’s philosophical approach to life and the basics of Ghandian economics. This proved to be a much more enriching approach and a spontaneous question and answer session was enjoyed at the end culminating in the lecturer expressing her frustration that Ghandi’s principles have not been adhered to at all in India since Independence. The afternoon was spent at the Mumbai stock exchange where three employees, and experts in their fields, broke down the internal functioning of both the exchange and the Indian economy into manageable pieces. The third speaker took the ‘two way dialogue’ approach and engaged us in a debate about the way India is developing. Very quickly the dialogue became a heated debate focussing overwhelmingly on the poverty we were seeing in Mumbai. This became a trend over the next few days as we increasingly felt that HR was showing off the best that India had to offer, without addressing what was to our mind the most striking difference between Mumbai and the UK; the extent and severity of the poverty. Having never seen whole families with babies, sleeping on the streets, old men with dislocated limbs hobbling about on makeshift crutches, five year old children tapping taxi windows begging for food with a hand to mouth gesture, and people with various other ailments, sitting on the streets begging outside Bombay Hospital and seemingly not receiving any aid from the state, the poverty rather than the prosperity of India’s middle and upper classes was what was dominating dinner time conversation. Having said this, the extent of the wealth in the upper classes also surprised us as we paid more than any of us UK students were used to, for entry into the clubs and bars we frequented in the evenings. There was seemingly no mid-range in Mumbai.

After trips to the British council, Hindi lessons, a very entertaining ‘Hollywood Stock Exchange’ game put on by HR volunteers, and trips to the Whistling Woods film school and a Nature Reserve, which wrapped up week one, we began Week Two. Week two addressed the poverty head on and all our queries about the inequality we were seeing in Mumbai were answered. We were each allocated to one of ten NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations) for the week and were sent into the world of Mumbai’s ‘other half’. Groups went to an Aids and HIV clinic, a mental health establishment, brothels in the slums, schools in the slums, an institute of the deaf and deafblind, a rehabilitation establishment for the slums’ disenchanted school dropouts, and a unit for children with cancer. The NGOs were keen to show off these grim realities of Mumbai and all the students were humbled to see the hard work that was being done to counteract the crippling inequality of developing India. Credit must be given to HR College for showing us this side of Mumbai in such an explicit, no non-sense way.

The lasting memory of Mumbai for the British students will be of a universally warm and welcoming Indian people, a tolerant society with strong community spirit and a rich history and culture. Our exposure to Indian music, dance and religious practice, provided by our hosts, HR College, will leave India and Mumbai firmly in our thoughts and excited about return trips in the future.

(Jack Chapman)

Day 9

Our first full day on placement with an NGO based in Mumbai. Along with four others I am with Perana, an organisation who work with 2nd and 3rd generation children of prostitutes in Mumbai's notorious red-light districts. Having been to one of Perana's centres in Kamathipura yesterday, we went to another centre in the Falkland Road area this morning. After an informative but disturbing talk with one of Perana's staff about the trafficking of women from Bengal and Bangladesh and the treatment of the women by their pimps and brothel owners, we went for a community visit. The staff do these twice a day, and thus are well known within the red light areas. The staff took us up to one of the brothels. Only girls were allowed in. In a tiny, square room four single beds were pushed against the walls. The were where the women work, sleep and live.

In the afternoon we visited the government Child Welfare Centre, of which there are two in Mumbai. Here around 450 children were housed while the committee decides whether to return then to their parents or place them in a government care institution. These children have been rescued from child labour, forced begging or prostitution during police raids. We were shown the Ganpati that the children had made and decorated for the Ganpati festival. The boys got us chairs, gave us food and watched curiously. The girls, who are in a separate compound, either bounded over to us eagerly ass we entered or watched shyly from a distance.

From the harsh realities of life for some of Mumbai's most unfortunate residents we were whisked away by air conditioned coach to a dinner reception at the exclusive International Cricket Club. Following a traditional temple dance performance and speeches by some eminent figures involved in the organisation of the programme, we ate a delicious Indian buffet dinner and engaged in conversation with our Indian counterparts. Fitting for Mumbai, it was truly a day of contrasts.

(Claire Turner)