Elissa Zakharia #214

A City of Dreamers Dharavi is a very poor place but at the same time really successful. People call it a slum but some also call it a city of dreamers. Dharavi is like in the center of Mumbai, India. The size of Dharavi is only 1 square mile and has a surprising population of 1 million people. In Mumbai not everywhere is like Dharavi. Dharavi works because its a city of dreamers. There is a little girl named Sheetal and her mom Laxmi. Laxmi is a ragpicker. A ragpicker is a person that goes through trash everyday looking for things to recycle. Its a super dangerous job because you can open acids and get poked by needles. Whats trash to us is gold for ragpickers. Every day, while Sheetal is at school Laxmi is rag picking for hours. Laxmi has a dream for her daughter that Sheetal wont have to do this when she grows up. Laxmi also volunteers at the Acorn Foundation. Jigha, a 12 year old boy who lives with his father in a one room home. Their house is pretty clean but all they have in there is a light, table, chair, and a sewing machine. Jighas dad is a tailor. When Jigha grows up his dream is to become a scientist. He thinks he can accomplish this dream by studying hard and to attend extra classes. Jigha feels that even the poor people can do what rich people do. Shailesh is a male rickshaw driver. He earns 240 dollars a month. Shaileshs first priority is to provide for his family. But Shailesh has a dream to become an actor in Bollywood. Bollywood is Hollywood for Dharavi. His motto is that I wont give up. To accomplish his

dream Shailesh is attending acting classes that cost him 35 dollars for 13 weeks of acting classes. To make it into Bollywood his teacher is recording videos of him singing and dancing. In conclusion, Dharavi is a poor place but it will always be a city of dreamers. Laxmi, Sheetal, Jigha, and Shailesh those are all dreamers. I think later in life if Dharavi works hard enough they can become a wonderful place to live. Dharavi works because its a city of dreamers.