Peoples minds work on such a strong relative level.. You can be upper-middle-class in California and kill yourself from depression. You can live in a slum and work all day and be happy (Theoretically that is, if they weren't constantly reminded by a skyline, TV, commercials and rich tourists of their relative position. In fact, commercials are designed to lower your happiness, as they essentially try to show that life can be better.)
Yes you can live a depressed life in California and you can also live and work in a slum and be happy. But I don't quite agree with the point that constant reminders of a skyline, TV etc in anyways dampen their spirit or make them less happy, on the contrary I think it motivates them. The relative differences show these people what they can be or want to be. I know of slums in other Indian cities as well, not many of them can boast about "running an industry" or the number of television sets as compared to dharavi(the one in Mumbai). What is evident is that in the more developed and prosperous cities, the happiness quotient of people in slums is generally higher as compared to slums in other less-developed cities.
That being said, I am not suggesting that prosperous cities lead to better slums. In fact there isn't a larger difference between the rich and poor anywhere in the world than there is in Mumbai. Poverty needs to be tackled and there are a lot of NGO's working towards this. All I'm trying to say is that the relative difference these people see around them does not make them feel less happier, it's a reality they live with and aspire to reach.
Yes you can live a depressed life in California and you can also live and work in a slum and be happy. But I don't quite agree with the point that constant reminders of a skyline, TV etc in anyways dampen their spirit or make them less happy, on the contrary I think it motivates them. The relative differences show these people what they can be or want to be. I know of slums in other Indian cities as well, not many of them can boast about "running an industry" or the number of television sets as compared to dharavi(the one in Mumbai). What is evident is that in the more developed and prosperous cities, the happiness quotient of people in slums is generally higher as compared to slums in other less-developed cities.
That being said, I am not suggesting that prosperous cities lead to better slums. In fact there isn't a larger difference between the rich and poor anywhere in the world than there is in Mumbai. Poverty needs to be tackled and there are a lot of NGO's working towards this. All I'm trying to say is that the relative difference these people see around them does not make them feel less happier, it's a reality they live with and aspire to reach.