Learning Objective: This is a travel-news session. During the session, we will take a look at the kind of tour offered in India which we call "slum". At the end of the session, the participants are expected to be able to discuss and comment on the topic and expresss their opinions regarding some points of concern.


One of Asia's biggest slums in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai is becoming a tourist destination. Though tour operators say they help dispel myths about slum life, some residents see them as exploitative.

Thousands of people move each month from villages and small towns to India's financial and film capital in search of the great Mumbai dream. But grinding poverty and a lack of affordable housing in the western Indian city has led to sprawling shanty towns.

One of the largest is Dharavi, home to an estimated one million people and better known as the setting for the Academy Award-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire."

Now, British-run Reality Tours has begun offering tourists a tour through Dharavi's teeming lanes.

For 6 euros ($8), tourists are picked up at their hotel in a private bus and taken to Dharavi. They are asked to follow several rules, including a photography ban and behavioral guidelines.

"There will be some smoky and smelly places, so don't catch your nose or make faces," Reality Tours guide Sunil Chettina said. "If you do that, people will feel insulted."

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Points of Discussion


1. Summarize the article based on how you understood it.

2. What can you personally say about the issue of slum tour?

3. List the advantages and disadvantages of this kind of tour.

4. Will you consider to have a slum tour someday?

5. What is your final stand on this? Should this continue or should this stop soon?