Profile of an Indian slum

In the wake of their well-known work, Slums and Urbanization, published in 1970, Prof. Desai and Dr. Pillai present a detailed study of a big slum in Bombay which perhaps has some of the worst slums in the world. Over one-fifth of Bombay's 5.6 mil lion people live in conditions or even cattle. This book tells you where they come from, what they do and how they live and think. There is hardly any aspect of slum life that is left out: the discussion ranges from occupational life to child development in slums. There are also chapters on world slums, Indian slums and the housing situation in Bombay, meant to give the reader a comprehensive picture of the problem and a clear perspective. The book gives a good deal of field statistics but they are heavily padded with rich case histories and events in day-to-day slum life. It is therefore not just another dehydrated survey but a living account of the woes of les misrables in urbs prima in Indies.