TV: About Last Night… Kevin McCloud: Slumming It (Part One) Channel 4

Jan 15

Channel 4 is celebrating all things Slumdog Millionaire with a range of programmes that involve exploration of the slums of India, in particular, Dharavi, the most densely populated in the swelling Asian nation. In this two-part episode (part two is on tonight at 8pm), Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud visits and lives in the Mumbai slum, the pitch being that he would live as these people do for a short spell.

It was unquestionably fascinating. One million people live within a square mile, with dozen-strong families sleeping in a space of 12 square feet, and washing clothes near sewage outflow. But it was the resilience of McCloud’s hosts that really spoke volumes. ‘They’re all immaculate’, he says at one point of the inhabitants who are beautifully turned out and shimmer around colourfully. Most are employed too, and while the working conditions are appalling, most are, understandably, just happy to be working.

The problem was McCloud. The man was, in this reviewer’s eyes, repulsive in his condescending tone to the very people he was putting out by staying with. He moans and whinges at the inconvenience of it all, and spits out the words ‘shitheap’ and ‘crap’ of this place that is home to these people. His tone was inexcusably insensitive and disrespectful. But the last straw for me came during an evening time street festival when McCloud had been handed a neatly compiled plate of food, composed of bread, curry, with two tidy ramekins of something tasty looking. McCloud held the culinary work of art in his hands, and moaned again about how the cooks had handled the food and there was nowhere he could discard it. A disgrace.

Let’s hope that tonight he can redeem himself by bucking up a little, rolling up his sleeves and not carrying on like a spoilt Westerner.

Written by :

Hilary A. White

Comments

0 #3 Jeffrey 2010-05-18 14:43

One place where all things unique and interesting about India are showcased is
CNN's Global Public Square. Hosted by Fareed Zakaria, the weekly talkshow has a segment, What in the World, where Fareed shares with viewers items that have caught his eyes lately.

It is hoped that he will invite
Malise Ruthven, to discuss his snappy piece titled “Excremental India” in the latest issue of New York Review of Books.
Since Fareed is also fond of documentaries about India, he may consider doing a panel with recent documentary on Mumbai. Part one of Slumming It (Channel Four), designer Kevin McCloud’s profile of the world’s biggest slum, Dharavi in Mumbai, showed us someone – and let’s use a nice euphemism here – going to the lavatory in front of our eyes.

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0 #2 Brendan 2010-01-27 12:30

I spent a short time in India and while the food was very good, in the end it bit me in the ass so I empathise with him somewhat - he was a weird choice of presenter for what should have been an excellent series

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