Despite the winner being declared a few months ago, viewers across the globe learnt about the eventual winner of Masterchef Australia’s Season 13 only recently. He was Justin Narayan of Indian-Fijian origin. The 27-year-old chef, touted as the underdog throughout the series, dazzled the judges and social media with his culinary wizardry and steely determination to run away with the $2,50,000 prize money and countless endorsements that come with winning this prestigious contest. In his post-win interviews, he shared his plans that included either opening a food truck or restaurant that would celebrate Indian flavours. What was interesting to note from an unbiased Indian observer’s point of view (read: this columnist) is that he also wished to share some of the profits to help feed and educate young kids who lived in India’s slums. In some sections of the Indian press it was reported that a Mumbai-based NGO was in the mix of things to execute Narayan’s plans. Naturally, as a Bombaywallah, I was curious and poked around to check if any progress had been made on that front since it would directly affect our city’s kids. Until the time of writing this column, there was none.

But it was the mention of the once-favourite used (and abused) term and its iterations – ‘slums of India’/’Indian slum kids’ – that got me wondering if this possibly ushered its return of sorts on global platforms. Who can forget how Briton Danny Boyle gave these terms a grand Hollywood red-carpet welcome, all the way to ensuring multiple wins at the Oscars. The world’s attention had been captured to this poverty-lined fairy tale, and off-shoots of this success had caused an impact everywhere, including right at the heart of the Slumdog Millionaire story – Dharavi. I recall going undercover for a reporting assignment into this maze, to gauge the extent of the slum tourism network that was cashing in on the film. It was all true. To my horror and discomfort, I witnessed tour guides selling the idea laced with lies, dripping with victim syndrome stories and false claims of charity work, all the while causing a serious breach of privacy as groups of firangs entered kitchens of unhappy residents or clicked frames of snot-faced kids by choking gutters.