500 Word Essay on India. 12-7-10

     So far in this unit we have learned about India and its slums. We have learned about things like why India has such bad slums like Dha Ravi, and how it is like to live in these slums. We have learned about human trafficking and how it happens in India with children and adults being traded. We learned they are exploited, used for slavery, prostitution, and forced labor among other things. Finally we learned about Mumbai, Bollywood, and India's poverty.

     We have learned about the bad slums in Dha Ravi. Dha Ravi is a shantytown in Mumbai. It is one of the biggest slums in Asia but not the biggest in the world. Over 18,000 people are forced to live in a acre or two together. Over a million people are living in Dha Ravi and it’s very crowded. Poverty and disease are everywhere and there is a ton of pollution coming from everywhere. Waste is dumped into the river, trash is just dumped in piles, and sludge is dumped into the rivers. The people in these slums still have jobs put are paid very little. Even some of the children get an education so they can read and write. Still Dha Ravi is a horrible slum stricken with disease, crime, and poverty.

     We learned about human trafficking in India. We learned that human trafficking is a big problem in India. Both children and adults alike are forced to do work. They do everything from slavery, to prostitution, to basic forced labor. A lot of the people that are put to work in this crime are poverty stricken people. They are promised legitimate jobs but they are really being trafficked. Most of these organizations that run the human trafficking are gangs. India is on the tier 2 watch list for human trafficking which means that they do comply fully to TVPA's standards but are making strides to. Also India has been accused of not prosecuting offenders good enough and protecting trafficking victims. 

     Also we learned about Bollywood which is the Indian film industry. Its name comes from the mix of Hollywood and Mumbai. This film industry produces any musicals and not as many violent films like Hollywood does. Also Bollywood produces a lot more films than Hollywood. Another difference is that not a lot of films in Bollywood don't have a big budget like Hollywood might. The Indian film industry is very popular also and a lot of people love watching the movies.

      The most important part of all we learned though is that all these things come back to relate to one another. For starters India’s poverty is something that causes shantytowns because the people are so poor that’s where they must live. On the other hand shantytowns make poverty even worse. More people are born into this poverty and can't get out of it. Also they are dragged into human trafficking, my next point. A lot of poor people go into trafficking because they are promised good jobs but they really are not. They are just trafficked for prostitution, labor, and slavery for a few examples. Also the bad life in the slums is driven by poverty. Poor conditions mean disease spreads easily; you can't get water easy due to a lack of a sewage system which pollutes the water. Also living conditions can be crowded. This all means a bad life in the slums.

    Finally this all leads to the fact that the movie Slumdog Millionaire doesn’t show all of India but does represent fairly what it shows. It shows the slums fairly but it doesn't show all of India mainly the good parts like suburbs or upper class city. It only shows the poverty stricken parts. Overall the movie does a good job of representing India in what it shows.

http://www.humantrafficking.org/combat_trafficking
http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2009/123132.htm