I was scoping out Dharavi yesterday for upcoming ethnographic research and came across this pair sharing headphones to catch the India/Sri Lanka cricket match via a mobile phone. The aspiration value of this part-shared, part-private use of a cellphone feature was evident – as onlookers could sense the excitement they were missing, through following the men’s expressions as the game progressed.
Check out images over upcoming weeks on my Dharavi Flickr set.
[Research updates were previously posted on the the now defunct Prepaid Economy blog]

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Well spotted regarding the headphones.
A Mumbai resident and ’stitchwallah’ guided me through Dharavi recently.
She took an awesome picture of how 44 gallon drumscan become both the walls of a house and a picture of beauty
The photo is here
I shot for a couple of hours in Dharavi last year. I talked to the residents for quite a while and was very intrigued by their social acceptance and political awareness… The kids were fun. Really want to get back there again.