Slumdog update

Jai ho indeed. Well done Danny Boyle and collaborators for the Slumdog win. I am still skeptical. I did run across a great piece that delves into urban history/planning and the protests over the title of the film in India--most coverage of these protests focuses on the "dog" bit, but the authors of this piece focus on the "slum" bit: calling Dharavi a slum (or the biggest slum in Asia) takes away from the incredible accomplishment it is.... they write:

you won’t be chased by beggars or see hopeless people loitering — Dharavi is probably the most active and lively part of an incredibly industrious city. People have learned to respond in creative ways to the indifference of the state — including having set up a highly functional recycling industry that serves the whole city. Link.

The authors both work with PUKAR, a Mumbai-based scholarly and public policy organization that hosts seminars, talks, films, and funds research into the new urban challenges facing megalopolises like Mumbai.