Gaondevi

Amidst the chaos of a city that houses over twelve million people, is situated Gaondevi, a slum that shares its boundaries with the Mumbai International Airport. Landing at Mumbai one is greeted by a strange sight; there is the vast expanse of the airport grounds and pressed close to its boundaries is Gaondevi, with its narrow lanes and shanties crowding together in the fight for space.

It is very easy to get lost in Gaondevi. The walls of the small houses form a sort of a dimly lit maze, and light from the open doors filters out into the lanes, guiding you along. One can hear sounds of the women’s favorite soaps on the various television sets, of children running around and playing, of small quarrels between neighbours; all of it interspersed with sounds of aircrafts landing and taking off.

For the lack of space, the children of Gaondevi have converted the connected roofs of the slum into a vast playground. Nor can one blame them for choosing the location, for the view from here is quite spectacular. Even the cats are seen lounging about on the roofs on a sunny day. Being next to the runway, sometimes the kids venture close to the airport boundary wall for a closer look. This is when the guards are seen scolding the curious kids, for whom the airport is like a backyard.

Gaondevi grew in size out of need rather than out of any sort of planning. It has existed for more than twenty years now, and this is just an approximation for no one knows when it really came up. There are people who come and go but for some Gaondevi has become home.