A Reflection on National Geographic: The Real Slumdogs

Melissa Mellion English 1/28/14

Mellion 2 Dharavi is a slum where many people from Mumbai, India live. People there live right on open sewers with bad electricity and many other things. An Interesting detail about Dharavi is that the people of Dharvi pick out of the trash and sort it out. Another interesting fact about Dharavi is that even though the people there live in poverty they still have jobs, go to school, and make the best of their lives. Dharavi is a small area that fits many people; it is amazing how hard they work and how much they can accomplish. Everyone in Dharvi is perusing his or her dreams. Dharavi is a city of dreamers.1 Three examples of people in Dharavi are Laxmi, Sheetal, and Jigha. Laxmi has very many safety hazards living in Dharavi. She is a rag picker. A rag picker is someone who picks through the trash for a living. She has so many hazards while doing this job, such as diseases, germs, fumes, and chemicals. Laxmi also has one daughter
Google images - Dharavi who attends school. She tries and helps her daughter Sheetal, with her schoolwork. Laxmi also attends

the Acorn Association, which helps woman and children. Laxmi is a good example of pursuing dreams because she is working hard to get her daughter a better education and to make Dharavi better for everyone who lives there. It seems very hard to have a family and try to become something big. Shailesh is trying to become a big Bollywood star, be a good father/husband, and make a living by driving a rickshaw. Shailesh works very hard driving people around in his rickshaw. (A rickshaw is a type of car in India) He is trying to make a living for his family, he makes $60 a week. However, he makes just enough time to attend acting
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Rodd Houston. National Geographic: The Real Slumdogs. CD ROM. Directed by Steve Baker. San Francisco, CA: Independent Television Service, 2010.

Mellion 3 school to become a great Bollywood film star. His teacher has helped him by putting him in a music video. Shailesh, gives $35 to attend the school. Shailesh is pursuing his dreams by working hard and then becoming a great Bollywood star. I think Shailesh is being great by doing what he want and succeeding in what he believes in and what he is doing. It takes a lot of work living in Dharavi, and then wanting to succeed in life and growing up to be something important. It is also about learning something new and becoming something great. This person believes that he can do it and grow up to be something great his name is Jigha, he is a 12-yearold boy who lives in Dharavi, and he has big dreams to be a scientist and speak English. Jigha has a good life living in Dharavi, he goes to school, lives with his dad, and is working very hard to become what he wants. Jigha, is a great example of what I was talking about, because he is a young boy, who is already starting to work hard to do what he loves, and wants to become, he truly is pursuing his dreams. In conclusion, Jigha lives in a place where by looking at pictures, you would think it is a terrible place to live. Yes, it is dirty and not safe, but people go to work and school and work very hard to do something great. Jigha is doing that and doing great at it. Every child has potential. We have to give them hope.2 Therefore, even though these people live in a slum and are called mean things, which does not mean that they aren't good people working hard for something. We all try to work very hard. However, compared to them, we have it easy. People in Dharavi are called slum-dogs, it is not a very nice name, but Dharavi is much more than that. Everyone has a dream, not all people live up to him or her. Nevertheless, almost everyone in Dharavi lives up to his or hers'. Dharavi has a big future, because they are all true believers in hope.

Krishna Pogari. Ibid.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY National Geographic: The Real Slumdogs. CD ROM. Directed by Steve Baker. San Francisco, CA:Independent Television Service, 2010.

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