US Influencer Under Fire for Sharing Her Experience on the “Dharavi Slum Tour”
Influencer Tara Katims, an American, has drawn criticism for pushing a contentious tour when she was recently in India. With her fans, Katims posted a video that demonstrates how to spend seventy-two hours in Mumbai. Her schedule included visits to famous locations like the Taj Mahal and the backwaters of Kerala, in addition to Pilates classes, partying, and culinary classes. However, it was her visit to the Mumbai slum of Dharavi that infuriated social media users.
One of the biggest slums in the world is Dharavi. Many people accused her of glamorizing the hardships of those living in the slums and taking advantage of poverty for tourism when the clip from her trip went viral. In the meantime, residents often organize these slum excursions, charging between Rs. 700 and Rs. 1000.
In a TikTok video that has been making the rounds on X (formerly Twitter), Katims complains about how disappointed she is with Delhi, saying it is unsafe and filthy. She emphasizes that, because of the possibility of harassment, emergency buttons are present in cabs. Despite this, she says it’s safer to live in South Delhi and commends the low cost of bespoke apparel. Then, her travels to Kerala and Agra are shown in the video. In the closing moments of the video, Katims talks about her tour of Mumbai’s slums, complimenting the hosts and saying it was the finest way to get to know the city. Though she expressed gratitude, she was criticized on social media for concentrating on the less developed parts of the nation rather than visiting more established but often ignored places.
A user bemoaned their aggravation and chastised the western visitor for their fixation on India’s poverty.
Another outlined India’s diverse realities and said that while there are impoverished regions, there are also developed ones.
While there are slums in Mumbai, someone pointed out that they are a minority and do not reflect the whole nation.
A user who was critical of the influencer questioned why she used poverty to gain notoriety, claiming that those who live in slums don’t need her help.
Tara Katims allegedly justified her choice to join the slum tour in a different video, stating that the tour operator wanted to dispel the myth that growing up in the slums is bad. According to the influencer, the community receives a portion of the tour revenues, and she said that people from these places often experience prejudice in the workplace. While many tourists would choose to concentrate on India’s attractive locales, Katims contended that it’s crucial to observe the truth of how certain Mumbai residents live.
