Post #4 - Slumdog Millionaire/South Asia

In response to Blog Topic 4, I decided to look into the slums of Dharavi a little more. I looked at a few sites that describe the slums of the city just as Professor Helmer had in class. Photographs looked the same; people were doing the things that you'd expect them to be doing and their shelters looked just as you'd expect. But then I came across a different tourism website. At this site, a couple had documented their experiences visiting the slums of Dharavi. Before going on the tour of the area, the author of the article, (click here to open the article), talks about how the two of them prepared themselves to see things that they didn't really want to see. They expected to come into contact with miserable people in a poverty-stricken environment, which any of us could potentially expect. But upon their first interaction with residents of the slum, the couple was surprised with the happiness level there. They said that almost everyone they encountered was happy to see them and happy to be doing whatever they were doing. Although happiness is so simple, the authors were confused as to why it would exist in a place of extreme poverty like the slums of Dharavi. Does this surprise you?

I think, geographically speaking, that it's cool to read this article about the unexpected. As generally middle-class Americans, we aren't accustomed to a world where happiness and poverty possess a direct relationship... Most often, we see them as inverse variables. So what makes the residents of this slum so happy, as observed by our authors? We can't really say. But if I had to try to put a finger on it, I'd go with both factors of satisfaction and simplicity. These residents aren't exposed to much of the opportunity of the outside as Americans are, nor are they coaxed into thinking they need anything more than the necessities. Wouldn't that be a cool life to live, though? Not wanting anything more than you do need and have? Think about how much smoother life would flow! And personally, I believe that simplicity can cause a great deal of happiness. I think there's a reason why they're ALL happy!

Maybe I'll try living simpler today...