Pappadam Central

If you ever wondered where Bombay's papads come from, look no further.

This is a little corner of Sion-Dharavi, where papad making is a cottage industry. Women sit in the shade of their homes, rolling papads by the dozen. Almost every home in this part of Dharavi seems to be making papads.

The sun is a friendly partner, providing free heat to dry the papads. That means, obviously, in the three monsoon months starting July, these households have to look for other sources of income.

It was noon when I got there. There was this drowsy air everywhere. The women were busy, but papad making and gossip go hand in hand, so it was a little bit like an afternoon party.

Apart from papad, the other thing we saw was lots and lots of red chillies. I'm not sure where it comes from, or what they're doing with it. I'm going to ask the next time I go there.

It seems to be an all woman industry. We didn't see any men, except for one really old man who was in charge of picking up dried papads and packing them.