Why are You Here?

“Why are you here?” This question was posed to me during a field visit to the

Kunchi Kuppu slum in Koppal, Karnataka, India. I was speaking with one of the few residents who had received a degree, and who was also one of the very few who spoke English. As I began to explain that we were university students from America who were spending the semester studying in India he interrupted me, asking again, “Yes. But why are you here? Why have you come to this community?” I faltered, stumbled over my words. What could I say? The truth seemed dehumanizing: “These students are studying social justice, peace and development in India and it seems to us that you, living in a slum, are the victims of structural injustice. We are using your situation, impoverished living conditions, and lack of opportunity as a case study so that we can try to save the world.” As we watched my students playing games with the community’s children, this young man handed me a diaperless baby and introduced me to the baby’s 5-year-old sister. “This girl,” he said, “lives on 10 rupees a day” (10 rupees is the equivalent of $0.23). He gestured to the laughing group of children who were playing games with my students and said, “These children don’t know anything about life outside their community. They don’t know about anything outside of India. And you have come to India to study us.”