India's Real Slumdog Millionaire

On February 26th, following the Oscar and media hype over the film Slumdog Millionaire, I post the piece, The Reality of Slumdog Millionaire’, in which I highlighted the extreme difficulty in escaping India’s slums, and the harsh reality that money is only a band-aid solution to solving the problem’s of poverty.  Money alone cannot bring one from the depth of poverty and quickly lead to a life of continuous prosperity.

Mumbai, or Bombay as it was once known, is a clash of cultures and class all in one glance, as the city of more than 13.5 million holds both countries elite and poorest.  The city of the acclaimed film, Slumdog Millionair is also home to Harshvardhan Nawathe won India’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” in 2000.  In many ways it is Nawathe that could be considered ‘India’s Real Slumdog Millionaire‘, however while he did not grow up in the slums,  his experiences and unprepared reality of his sudden fame, gives him a clear and sometimes heartbreaking incite into the reality of the films child actors.

it is his commitment to the slums that made him that separates much of Nawathe’s story from that of the film.

More than eight years ago, on Oct. 19, 2000, Nawathe won 10 million rupees (€150,000 or $195,000), the biggest possible jackpot at the time. A third of all India, or about 350 million people, sat glued to their TV sets at home or in front of the windows of electronics stores to watch Nawathe, a poor student at the time. To this day, he is still recognized on the streets of Bombay, where he is a folk hero, and his story is much more popular in India than the film from “the Hollywood.” What does fame do to someone who comes from the bottom of society and suddenly shoots to the very top? How long does the dream last? And what happens afterwards?….The news stories remind Nawathe of his own tale. He knows what it feels like — the fame followed by the letdown. He could teach the child stars of Garib Nagar a thing or two. He knows that fame is a dangerous thing. Don’t loiter, Nawathe would say, go back to school instead!

In my previous post I stated;

The fate of all of Slumdog Millionaire’s young stars remains to be seen, and it not only depends on fortune and fame, but their families, communities and their ability to gain a full education and escape the cycle of of so many families who find themselves with little options for escape from life in the slums.

Despite Nawathe not actually being a slum kid, though not wealthy by any means, he faced the same onslaught and life changing attention from the media and public.  After a self imposed exile and reprieve from the spotlight, for which he used not only to clear his mind, but also to continue to pursue his education.  Nawathe took his education, his experience and his struggles to give back to India’s forgotten slum children.  As Deputy General Manager of children’s rights at the Naandi Foundation, an Indian NGO, Nawathe is helping Bombay’s slum children.  Through Naandi Foundation’s, Children’s Rights Program, disadvantaged and impoverished children are given sustainable educational and development opportunities and skills.  Naandi works to ensure that every aspect of the child’s life is addressed, from pre-school education on up, to ensuing access to health and nutrition, to ensure that children are equipped to escape the cycle that binds millions to the slums of India.

Thankfully with Nawathe behind them, some of India’s slum children are being given a fighting chance at sustainably escaping the poverty that cripples India’s slums.