In Bombay, four million people, fully half of the city's population, inhabit hastily constructed stick huts, clustered in sidewalk colonies that are officially denied the barest sanitation, electricity or plumbing facilities. The city fathers have come up with a plan to eradicate them altogether in their latest "cure" for Bombay's ills: beautification, or the demolition of the shantytowns. The only problem is, the poor keep cropping up again like weeds! In this disturbing documentary, Bombay's slum-dwellers tell their own story, with no need for narration or commentary. But some of the most damning evidence against demolition comes from those who favor it. Anand Patwardhan, filmmaker and activist, has penetrated the dualities of life in Bombay; his film is more than a mirror of the prejudices of the middle class, but most importantly a mirror for the slum-dwellers of their own lives. With this critically acclaimed film they have gained a wide public voice.