From October 14th -18th, 2024, Dharavi Koliwada was abuzz with news of the 8 Australians helping to build the Customs House study space for students. From ferrying huge blocks of basalt stone to putting together a teak wood chair, the team from Sullivan Carpentry did it all. 

Months ago, urbz, Mumbai was contacted by Richard Sullivan, proprietor of Sullivan Carpentry, based in Sydney Australia. After the first Zoom call, it was clear that Richard was an Indophile who loved conversations over chai, saw immense value in his trips to India and wanted to share the experience with his team. He thought it would be a great bonding exercise to plug into an existing building project so that his team could get their hands dirty and contribute to the ecosystem of the homegrown neighbourhood. 

Having carpenters, masons and builders from Sydney working alongside their Indian counterparts on a project in Dharavi Koliwada created a meaningful synergy that impacted everyone involved. 

The residents of Koliwada couldn’t believe that people they normally saw as tourists were mixing cement with aggregate, cutting and tying rebars for concrete and casting beams on a construction site for a building in their neighbourhood. The Dharavi Koli Jamat was so impressed by the team’s work spirit that they organised a dinner at the community hall to felicitate and thank them. 

The most fruitful exchange was between the Sullivan Carpentry team and the Indian construction team. While the Australians had their way of doing things back home, they quickly adapted to how things were done in Dharavi Koliwada. In a week, they began to understand the limitations of working in a strikingly different context and appreciated the ingenuity of their Indian counterparts. They not only helped build the plinth of the Customs Study space but also managed to build a camaraderie with the construction workers on site.

One day over a shared meal, they discussed how they had learned to make and build things. It was evident that carpenters, masons and contractors were highly valued in Australia, sometimes earning twice as much as people with white-collar jobs. Their pride in what they did was validated by an educational system that provided them with theoretical and practical training.

Sadly, their Indian counterparts do not get the same recognition and support from a largely caste-based society which looks down upon labour-intensive jobs. India still has a long way to go in recognizing and acknowledging the efforts and skills of people who produce work with their hands - making, building and repairing homes and all kinds of everyday objects. Without whom life as we know it is impossible.

The biggest concern for the Indian team was the risks they took because of the lack of safety gear in some construction jobs. This was shocking to the Aussies where safety is given topmost priority in their corner of the world. Despite the risks involved, the Indian construction team takes pride in a job well done, made possible with the skills and knowledge acquired over years of direct on-site experience. 

The Australians were surprised to learn that the Indian construction team wears two hats. Not only do they construct buildings, but they also farm rice, wheat, and vegetables back in their villages. They have dual livelihoods - working on construction sites in the city for most of the year and returning to their villages to sow or reap crops as per the farming season. In their view a house was analogous to a tree, each grew from subterranean beginnings - roots or a foundation that was only as strong as the earth itself. The significance of rituals in farming and construction was explained - the Earth is considered the all-life-giving Mother, regardless of whether you are sowing seeds or laying the foundations for a building, you showed your respect to her and sought out her blessings through prayers and ritual offerings. 

Local building contractors, carpenters, welders and masons are important contributors to Homegrown neighbourhoods. They are responsible for helping residents build homes that fulfil their needs and aspirations. Most of them start their journey as young apprentices working on building sites in the city, they slowly acquire the confidence to build, and eventually, some of them gather enough capital to start taking turn-key building contracts in the neighbourhood. 

For a brief moment in Dharavi Koliwada, we got a glimpse of what it would be like if the skills of local builders and artisans were recognised, valued and celebrated. We imagined a contractor from Koliwada taking his team on a work holiday to a construction site in Sydney. We hope this future is not far away.