After winning a scholarship with InfoChange, Parasher Baruah has directed a documentary film about the recycling industry of the rag pickers of Mumbai as part of the Dharavi Project.
   The film was first released in March 2009 and was selected to be screened at the Munich Documentary Film Festival in May 2009.
Filmed over a period of eight months in Dharavi, WASTE explores the importance of the rag pickers’ role in managing the city’s waste and the challenges that these people face every day.
    The film follows three adolescent rag pickers, Sameer, Santosh, and Salman, as they go about their daily lives and interviews other rag pickers and residents of Dharavi in the process.
   WASTE leaves a powerful impact on its audience and prompts viewers to rethink the way they use and dispose of trash.
   The film continues to be screened at various schools and events to bring attention to the living conditions of rag pickers and to help audiences gain perspective on how their patterns of consumption impact others.

    In conjunction with a number of other organizations, the Dharavi Project held an afternoon event at Shri Guru Dutt Gym in Dharavi Kolivada to support the effort to "change climate change" through hip hop music, graffiti art, and sculpture.
     Other participating organizations were Timbaland Production (American multi-platinum music producer Timbaland’s company), Indian Youth Climate Network, 21 tigers, Xtrathin Design, Seventy Events, and SNL Pro.
    The afternoon opened with an unveiling of several sculptured made by professional artists from recycled metals. Artists from "the Wall Project" also spent time painting urban art murals on designated building faces around Dharavi.
    The evening closed with performances from the up-and-coming singer Amar, reggae deejay Apache Indian, American producer and musical artist Jim Beanz, US musical artist Rebel, the Dharavi-based Tamil rap group Sout Dandy Squad, and a number of other musical and dance troops.

    Over 300 children and 100 adults attended ACORN’s Eco Fair, making the event a great success. School children both from Dharavi and other parts of cities attended and spent the day learning about recycling, participating in art activities, and learning to make things out of recyclable waste.    
    The event also featured a screening of the documentary WASTE, performances by musicians, hikes on nature trails, and discussions about how to deal with the urban problems of solid waste management and the concerns of the rag pickers who manage that waste every day.
    Well-known musician Shankar Mahadevan performed, as well as Ankur Tiwari, Tknow, Suneeta Rao, and the Sout Dandy Squad. Also in attendance were Bollywood film star Katrina Kaif, artists from the WALL PROJECT, Harun Robert (popular as Rob uncle from MAD TV), POGO channel, and sculptor Arzan Khambata.

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    An annual event, now in its second year, the Eco Fair will play host to 500 children from schools in Dharavi and from across Mumbai. In addition, the event will be attended by teachers from various schools in the city, CEOs of government and corporate organizations, NGOs, artists, actors, writers and firms specializing in water treatment.
    The fair will feature environmental workshops, nature walks, films on recycling, demonstrations on water harvesting and global warming and alternative energy as well as presentations by students.
    The Eco Fair will also feature a music event - Rags to Raga – that will see various musicians taking the stage, led by the young band Something Relevant, Ankur Tiwari, Jarrid Wood (Woody) and friends.
    The daylong event will also have surprise celebrity visitors who will be visiting the fair with their families.

.  Under construction