Chris Way, originally from England, moved to Mumbai in 2004 in order to bring slum tourism to Mumbai. Inspired by fevela tours in Brazil, Chris wanted to use slum tours in India as a way to raise awareness about life in slums and to raise funds for community projects. Krishna Pujari, the son of rice farmers from Heranjalu in the South Indian state of Karnaraka, was working in various South Mumbai restaurants as an onion chopper when Chris came to India. The two initially met when Chris ate at Krishna's restaurant. Later, the two serendipitously met again on the Oval Maiden when Chris was looking for a cricket match. The two quickly became great friends and Chris shared his dream of bringing slum tourism to Mumbai.
The pair founded Reality Tours & Travel in August 2005 but didn't give a tour until January 2006. It wasn't easy to convince people to come and visit a slum: hotels wouldn't work with us because we wouldn't pay commission and people were sceptical of flyers being handed out on the street trying to lure them to a slum. Despite only having 367 visitors in 2006, we remained determined. We knew that Dharavi was a fascinating place and that the tour was great. In addition, the feedback we received from the few tours we did give was extremely positive. Our big break came when Lonely Planet included us in their 2007 guidebook. By 2011, Reality Tours was welcoming nearly 10,000 annual visitors into Dharavi.
In 2007, even though Reality Tours was not yet profitable, we decided to begin community work. After discussing with various community members what they needed, we founded a community centre that provided English classes. Before long we began offering computer classes as well. In 2009 we decided to expand on our social work by establishing our own non-profit organisation that would focus on providing quality education to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The charity Reality Gives (formerly Reality Cares) was founded out of long talks we had had with the community in Dharavi and the recognition that there was a need for additional kindergarten and schooling facilities in the area. In 2012, Reality Gives decided that there were many other issues in Dharavi besides education that needed addressing and began to reach out to other NGOs to provide support. Reality Gives currently runs six programs and supports eight others in the fields of education, health and livelihood.
There have also been big changes for Reality Tours over the past couple of years. In 2011, Reality Tours started offering tours in South Mumbai with the creation of the Public Transport, Market Tours and Night Tour. We also made our first move outside of Mumbai with our 1 and 2 day village tours to Chinchoti. In 2013, we added an early morning Bicycle Tour and a Street Food Tour. As with the Dharavi Tour, 80% of the profit from all of the Mumbai city tours and village tours support
Reality Gives.
In 2012, we were recognised for our efforts when we were chosen as the overall winners of the Responsible Tourism Awards The judges encouraged us to expand our model of sustainable development. In 2013, Reality Tours expanded to Rajasthan and Kerala by offering multi-day tours through these two beautiful Indian states. Reality Gives continues to grow as Reality Tours grows. Reality Tours plans to use the profits from the tours in Rajasthan and Kerala to support NGO's doing great work in underprivileged communities there, and to use their experience gained from the Dharavi programs.
In the summer of 2014, Reality Tours expanded to New Delhi and began working with the New Delhi slum, Sanjay Colony, which is located in the Okhla Industrial Area, India's largest industrial area. We also offer Old Delhi Tours, Old Delhi Street Food Tours, and Sightseeing Tours. Currently, profits from the Delhi tours help pay for teacher salaries at the school we visit at the end of the tour.