The reality of Slumdog Millionaire
MUMBAI, India – City workers bulldozed the home of a “Slumdog Millionaire” child star Thursday as part of the demolition of dozens of shanties in a Mumbai slum.
Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail was asleep when a police officer woke him up and told him to leave his family’s home, he said. Shortly after that, the shack and about 30 more were destroyed.
“A police officer took a bamboo stick to hit me, and I was frightened,” said 10-year-old Azhar.
Authorities say his family will be given a new home elsewhere.
Eight Oscars and $326 million in box office receipts have so far done little to improve the lives of the film’s two impoverished child stars, Azhar and Rubina Ali – who were plucked from the slum to star in the blockbuster.
Lives little changed
They have been showered with gifts and brief bursts of fame, but their day-to-day lives are little changed.Thursday morning, city workers flanked by policemen arrived as part of a slum demolition drive – common in India’s chaotic cities, where officials struggle to keep crowding under control.
“They didn’t give prior notice. We didn’t even get a chance to take out our belongings,” said Shameem Ismail, Azhar’s mother, who has lived in the shanty town for more than 15 years. She has no legal right to the land.
“I don’t know what I am going to do,” she said, sitting on a bed she had dragged from the wreckage. Next to her was a plastic bag stuffed with belongings.
U.D. Mistry, an official with the city’s Bombay Municipal Corporation, said the razing was part of a “pre-monsoon demolition drive.
He said only illegally built shanties – not homes that were legally owned – were bulldozed.
“They were removed. That is the principle,” he said, adding he was not aware that the child star lived in that slum.
Despite the awareness that the film has raised, it seems like the lives of those actually living in those slums have changed very little. Understandably, it makes one feel pretty ineffective. So, what can you do? A lot, actually.
For starters, find out more about India and how you can be praying. Consider sponsoring a child or visiting the country yourself. AIM has sent dozens of teams of college students into India to minister in the slums and leper colonies. You can follow their stories this summer here and here. You can get involved in the Delhi Orphanage called “Hope House.” You can sponsor a native missionary. The possibilities are endless.
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Seth,
My heart continues to break with the things that break God’s heart. You and what you write about is a breath of dark, hot, humid and stenchy air. My heart (and my nose)now longs for those smells of the slums! My heart and body ache to be in those environments – those filthy slums and dump sites.
How is it that God changes our hearts and our noses?! I continue to cry out for the poor. For those out there that cannot relate, I understand.
I encourage you to begin asking Jesus to break your heart with the things that break his. He will do it. Just let him.
Bless you Seth.
Kenny Sacht
Boise, Idaho
thank you for writing about this! I went to India with AIM on a real life trip in the summer of 07. I just saw slumdog millionaire a couple of weeks ago and my first reaction was “yes, that is what india is really like”. I couldn’t stop telling my parents and friends that I watched it with that the portrayal of the slums and corruption was very true.
yet thankfully, there is hope in India because of Christ! Asha was one of my favorite places there and it is so true that God is working there! I cannot wait for those children to grow up and be a part of leading their people to God!