Dharavi Kumbharwada: Navaratri Celebration
Director: Richa Hushing; Cinematographer: Tapan Vyas
Duration: 00:09:51; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 25.018; Saturation: 0.220; Lightness: 0.283; Volume: 0.205; Cuts per Minute: 66.795; Words per Minute: 8.007
Summary: Dharavi is a settlement popularly termed as the biggest slum in Asia. Known to be one of the densest and most layered human settlements in the world, the origin of Dharavi can be traced back to early 20th Century, at the height of the industrialization in the region. Dharavi is an area, which was originally located at the northern periphery of Bombay, but with boundaries of this ever-growing city constantly extending on all sides it has come to occupy prime location today. Today, according to official records, Dharavi is marked as an area spread over 223 hectares, where as many as 18,000 people crowd into a single acre. A 1986 survey by the National Slum Dwellers Federation (NSDF) counted 530,225 people (106,045 households) living in 80,518 structures. But considering the large presence of unofficial/illegal migrats, the real number of people living in Dharavi is likely to be much more. Home to approximately one million people, Dharavi populace includes diverse language groups, religious communities and economic units. Currently, Dharavi is in the eye of a storm as the prime land that it occupies needs to be ‘re-developed’ to keep in pace with the economic globalization that is sweeping the city. Bombay, the supposed trade capital of India and India, the media acclaimed neo-Asian tiger of the international market, needs to grab more land and the old fashioned settlement of Dharavi must go in order to facilitate that.
Following is a night during Navratri (annual 9-days festival to celebrate fertility) in Kumbharwada (potters’ colony), which is spread over about 11 acres in Dharavi. Kumbhars (potters) are one of the most organized and visible communities in Dharavi. Most of them are traditional artisans from Gujarat who migrated to Mumbai in the first half of 20th century. As the potters’ work involve storing and making of clay, running potters’ wheel, baking and drying facilities and storage for the brittle products; space is very important for the Kumbharwada, both in terms of familial and communal use. It is a night of Navratri. Navratri is mainly observed by the Gujaratis and most of the potters in Kumbharwada are Gujarati. Navratri is also a business season for the potters. Navratri, the festival of fertility is observed around an earthen pot symbolizing the womb. Hence the potters make good business in this season. In this event the community celebrates business, culture and religion - in garba, the Gujarati folk dance form. Garba is a community dance form to be performed in large group in a circle. In Kumbharwada they dance around the same kilns in which they bake their pots during the day. The kilns are in the outdoor space and situated in the middle of the clusters of houses. The average size of the kilns are10 ft / 8 ft. In peak season the kilns are loaded every alternate day in the afternoon, set in fire in the evening, the fire runs for around 8 hours, by 3 am it starts colling down and then get unloaded in the morning. The whole process takes around 12 hours. Hence the evening in Kumbharwada is always full of smoke. Anybody who lights a klin in daytime or everyday instead of every alternate day becomes a subject of ridicule. The prosperous ones own kilns. Other people also can the kiln owned by somebody else. Some people only run kilns and do not get engaged with other aspects of pottery. Bhatti is like a studio – the owner may or may not use it for their own works. In the entire Dharavi we could find only one woman who runs a kiln. Though there are women who work as laborers in kilns. There are approximately 400 kilns of various sizes – depending on the status of the owner - in Dharavi. During Navratri they becomes the symbolic wombs for the community, other than solving the problem of paucity of communal space in the settlement. Under the impending threat of ‘redevelopment’ and ‘relocation’ to a modern settlement of multi-storied buildings, this scene of collective celebration acquires a different scale. This event is shot in Wadi 2. Kumbharwada is roughly divided into 4 wadis by the date of inception with Wadi 1 being the oldest. Shot by Tapan Vyas.
An evening of Navratri celebration in the Kumbharwada sector two in Dharavi. Kubharwada is potters' colony. Navratri, the celebration of fertility is observed through nine evenings by the Hindu Gujarati community. Most of the potters in Kumbharwada are Gujarati – Hindus are mostly from Kathiwad region and the Muslims are from Kuchh region. The Navratri celebration takes place around an earthen pot symbolizing the womb. Hence the pre-Navratri season is the peak business time for the potters. So in the Kumbharwada this is a double celebration time. In the middle of every cluster of few houses would be a Kiln. The space starved settlement dance in the narrow lanes surrounding the kilns. Kiln (rectangular size of average 10 feet / 8 feet or 15 feet / 12 feet) are the centre of work, also the only community space. So the revelers dance around the sacred kilns and celebrate fertility. New motifs and new metaphors of the metropolitan life. Hand held shot of dancers dancing in the narrow lane.
Gujarat
Kathiawad
Kuchh
Kumbharwada, Dharavi, Mumbai
Traditional songs on the loud speaker.
bake
business season
celebration
clay
collective
community
culture
dharavi
double celebration
festival of fertility
fluid culture
furnace
garba dance
gujarati
housing
improvisation
kiln
kumbh
kumbharwada
livelihood
metropolitan life
mumbai
navratri
pot
redevelopment
space
urban artisans
womb
Kumbharwada sector 2, Dharavi, Mumbai
Close up of happy faces – dancing, smiling, celebrating. As the young people dance around the kilns the elders watch sitting behind them at the outer space of the houses. The narrow lane burst with collective energy and happiness. Wide shots of the dancing group – in the middle of them is a kiln full of earthen pots and tubs. Breathing down the neck of the dancers are people's residences. As dancers pass the houses we sometimes get a glimpse of some homes through the doors, some displays of earthen wares in some other places, or groups of middle aged women sitting around at some doorsteps. Kitsch image of Amba, the daity of Navratri celebration.
Kumbharwada, Dharavi, Mumbai
Song on the loud speaker. Ambience sound of people clapping, chatting, whistling and laughing.
adaptability
amba
community culture
deity
dharavi
doorstep
earthen pots
earthen wares
festival of fertility
fluid culture
garba dance
glimpse
housing
icon
image
kitsch
kumbharwada
livelihood
mumbai
narrow lane
navratri
redevelopment
residence
threshold
urban artisans
Kumbharwada, Dharavi, Mumbai
Low angle long shot of group of young girls dancing. Behind them are stacks of baked pots, in the foreground sacks of clay. The girls dance happily in the small space curved out of the work area. They are followed by a group of boys – little more noisy and exhibitionist than the earlier group, they are followed by another tableaux of girls. By now the dancers have become aware of the camera and that created a sort of traffic jam in front of the camera. In another section a group is dancing in traditional interactive style by clapping and moving in coordination with the others. Then comes the tableaux of the small girls decked up in traditional Chaniya-choli. The space becomes a riddle of indoor-outdoor, work space-space of celebration and private-public.
(Devotional love) Song: Radhe Radhe... Govindo Gopalo... Radhe... aarti utarun Maa-ni aarti untarun... (worshipping the mother...)
baked pots
camera
chaniya-choli
clay
community culture
community space
decked up
dharavi
festival of celebration
garba dance
housing
indoor
interactive dance
kumbharwada
livelihood
mumbai
navratri
niche
outdoor
private
public
redevelopment
reiddle
space of celebration
tableaux
urban artisans
work space
Camera peeps over the mud wall of a kiln, girls dance on the other side. Their presence create an illusion of abundance in this space starved settlement. Top angle shot, sea of people in the narrow lanes, celebrating, dancing yet maintaining the discipline of body which the narrow space requires.
Gujarati song: Ram na baan vagya, Hari na baan vagya... Mari bayun benadiyun jone Ram na baan vagya... (Ram's arrow has struck me... Hari's arrow has struck me... O my friends, O my sisters, Look I am struck by Ram's arrows...)
Kumbharwada, Dharavi, Mumbai
accommodate
adaptability
body
comfortable
community culture
dharavi
discipline
economy. discipline
festival of fertility
garba dance
happy
housing
kumbharwada
livelihood
mumbai
narrow lane
navratri
redevelopment
spontaneous
urban artisans
Kumbharwada, Dharavi, Mumbai
Song on the loud speaker.
Top angle shot – small pots are drying on a scaffold, just below that in the narrow lane dance the youngsters with extreme economy and discipline. A space so narrow that it cannot even hold two people together is now accommodating more than 100 dancers. Yet the young dancers are not betraying any frustration or bitterness. They are comfortable, happy and spontaneous, though they cannot even afford to spread their two hands while dancing. They duck and jump through some staircase leading to a mezzanine floor, asbestos roof top or iron bars extending out dangerously, earthen pots kept precariously and continue to dance, celebrate. The halogen lights and sound speakers create the festive ambience and the decorated Kumbh (pot) – icon of Navratri -hang high in the air.The fate of the community of potters too hangs precariously. Would they survive this storm of 'redevelopment'? How would this space of multi-purpose function be metamorphosed in the new development model? How would the homogeneity of modern high-rise buildings accommodate the specifics of this artisan community?
ambience
asbestos roof
communal space
community culture
cultural specificity
decorated kumbh
decorated pot
dharavi
familial space
fate
festival of fertility
festivity
garba dance
halogen light
hanging
homogeneity
houses
housing
kumbharwada
livelihood
mumbai
narrow lane
navratri
precarious
redevelopment
residence
sound speakers
staircase
urban artisans
womb
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