I am a master in India

Chapter 143 Special Slums
Luca used to be in the pharmaceutical business, and although he also targeted patented drugs, it wasn't too difficult to do after all.

It’s not that Brazil doesn’t have genuine medicines, it’s just that ordinary people can’t afford them, or can’t afford them in the long term.

As an alternative, generic drugs accurately meet the needs of ordinary patients.

The amount of medicine Luca brought back three times was more each time than the last, and it even began to spread to the surrounding South American countries.

He tasted the sweetness and began to pursue more profitable business.

"It's just a small box, man," Luca gestured with his fingers. "Someone's offering two thousand dollars for it!"

This is unbelievable. Only a few pills in a small box? If all their ships were carrying this kind of cargo, they would have more money than they could spend in a lifetime.

"But this drug is not on the market at all. It is still in the laboratory stage. Even Pant can't get it."

"So we have to think of a solution. I know you have other options." Luca refused to give up.

"You know what clinical-stage drugs mean, right?" Ron looked at him.

"Man, I understand what you mean. But a terminally ill person can't care so much. He knows the cost better than us."

The anti-cancer drugs that Luca wants have relatively mature technology only in Europe and the United States.

India's generic drug companies are still in the exploratory stage, which requires a large amount of experimental data to verify.

Even if you know the formula of generic drugs, it is not easy to replicate it 100%; necessary experiments still need to be done.

Obviously, Luca couldn't wait any longer.

If someone came waving a knife and wanted that medicine, he would just get it, it was that simple.

He doesn't care how effective the medicine is, whether it will kill people, or whether it is allowed by law.

"I'll take you to the slums in a couple of days."

"What are you going there for?" Luca was stunned.

"When you can't get what you want on the Mumbai black market, you might as well go to the slums to get some information." Ron smiled mysteriously.

The slums are not entirely useless. They connect the positive and negative sides of the city, and countless gossips gather and spread here.

Ron visited Tej Ali's slum again after a few months, with Anand leading the way himself.

"The air here is so sweet that all the pores on my body are open."

He moved away from here and lived in a better and bigger house, but he often missed this place.

"Be careful! There's something under your feet!" Luca pointed at a pile of feces and shouted in horror.

"It doesn't matter if you step on it, just go to the beach and wash it off." Anand dodged nimbly.

"God, I'd rather be fighting a gang than exploring the slums." For the first time, Luca doubted whether Ron's bad idea would really work.

"What has Taiji been busy with lately?" Ron asked Anand.

"He's busy marrying his third wife."

"What?" Luca was stunned.

Ron was also a little surprised. He didn't expect that Taj Ali was still as good as ever despite his old age.

"Alibai has three wives now, and he can marry another one." Anand shook his head in amusement.

There is nothing surprising about this. Old herdsmen have more than one wife as long as they have the conditions.

Although Taj Ali lives in a slum, he is the boss here. His first wife was two years younger than him, and his second wife was ten years younger.

According to Anand, his third wife is only 20 years old and is a widow with four children.

If it weren't for Taj Ali taking her in, it would have been difficult for her to find a new husband because there were four girls.

His three wives gave birth to ten children for him, and including the dependents, there were more than fifteen.

To make them financially independent, Taj Ali bought four sewing machines.

The first wife, Fatima, set up her sewing machine under a canvas awning outside the house and hired one, then two, then three, and finally four male tailors to make shirts and trousers.

This medium-sized workshop provided a livelihood for the tailors and their families, and also brought in some profit, which was divided equally among the three wives.

Taj Ali stayed out of the business and paid for all household expenses. Any money his three wives earned belonged to them, and they could spend or save it as they pleased.

After a while, the tailors bought the slum huts around Taji Ali's house, and their wives and children lived next to Taji's wife and children, forming a large family of thirty or forty people who regarded Taji as a father and friend.

"It was a happy and contented family, with no quarrels or anger," Anand said proudly. "The children played happily and worked hard."

"Oh my god, this is weird," Luca yelled.

"What's strange?" Anand asked.

"With so many people living together, what will happen to the couple at night... I mean, what will happen to the children?"

"The children will pretend to sleep," said Anand, a seasoned man.

"You mean pretending to sleep?" Luca shouted.

"Yes, I overheard my parents doing that when I was five. And then I had my first child at fifteen."

Luka went numb. He turned to look at Ron, who shrugged.

There is nothing strange about this, that's just how it is in India.

Children don't need any sex education at all. They have been exposed to it since childhood and have already mastered it.

"I suddenly realized that Brazil is not that bad..." Luca muttered to himself.

He didn't understand, but he was shocked.

The three of them wandered around in the low slums and finally arrived at Taiji's house when the sun was at its highest.

Taj Ali looked the same, with short silver hair, a thin, sturdy build, and a resonant voice. "I don't understand these medicines, but I know where I might find them." He handed the note to his youngest son behind him.

"What do you mean?" Ron looked interested.

Before coming here, he had inquired about other black markets in Mumbai, but without exception he did not get the answer he wanted.

Unexpectedly, there was a turning point with Taji Ali. Sure enough, his original premonition was correct.

"In a special slum, Abu will take you there." Taji Ali suddenly smiled.

His youngest son, Abdullah, is only thirteen years old. When Ron provided free medical treatment here, he often helped out with running errands.

He was very active in leading Ron and kept chattering along the way.

"Tell me, where did the medicine your father gave me come from?"

"Yes, they are a group of brilliant people." Ab said with admiration.

When Ron was providing free medical treatment in the slums, all the medicines were provided by Taj Ali and his team, including some scarce injections.

This is quite unusual, especially for a slum.

However, because this might involve Taj Ali's secret business, Ron did not inquire further.

Now that Luca had no clue what to do, he used this favor.

Now it seems that they probably won't return empty-handed.

"So where is that special slum?" Luca asked.

"The leprosy slum is far away from here, outside the suburbs. We have to take the train." Abu waved in front and asked them to follow.

"Wait, what did you just say? Leprosy!" Luca's eyes widened.

"Yes! All the medicines in Mumbai can be found there. It's amazing!" Abu raised his head proudly.

"Oh my God!" Luca yelled. "Did you hear that? Ron, it's leprosy!"

This is a word that makes people shudder. There is no need to elaborate on the horrors of it, everyone knows it.

The strange thing was that neither Abhu nor Anand seemed too surprised.

"Abu, are you familiar with that place?" Ron asked.

"Of course, I go there two or three times a month. We give them clothes and food, and they give us medicine. They are friends."

There are several institutions in Mumbai that house leprosy patients, but the cluster that Abu mentioned is obviously not one of them.

Ab said the men and women there were reluctant to go to those institutions, which provided medical care, care and a clean environment but had strict regulations.

Not all lepers accepted the regulations, so some chose to leave, while others were kicked out.

Slum dwellers embraced people of all classes, races, and circumstances, demonstrating a broad and inclusive spirit. However, this generosity rarely extended to lepers.

Neither the street committee nor the slum boss could accept them, and lepers were avoided as if they were the plague.

They had no choice but to form mobile slums, settling down in less than an hour if they found a vacant lot, and leaving without a trace even in an even shorter time.

Sometimes they live next to the garbage dump for several weeks, encroaching on the territory of the scavengers who live there permanently, and the two sides engage in offensive and defensive battles.

Sometimes they make their homes in wet, vacant lots or where industrial wastewater drains out.

They are a group of abandoned people who can only wander around the outskirts of this city.

Of course, Ron was also very afraid of leprosy, which was an infectious disease and the mere name of it was terrifying.

But he decided to go and see because Abdullah said there were healthy people there and it would be fine as long as there was no close contact.

Moreover, in this era, leprosy can be cured long ago, so it is actually not that scary.

Ordinary people are just scared by its long-standing reputation, not knowing that a vaccine has already been available.

If the situation is really bad, the worst that can happen is turning back.

"Abu, don't take the train, let's drive."

"Ron!" Luca looked at him in disbelief. "You love money more than I do!"

"Just tell me whether you're going or not?" Ron stood by the car waiting for him.

"Go! That's a two thousand dollar a box business!" he yelled and got into the car angrily.

The brand new Ford drove away from Chao Pattaya Bay. The cool breeze from the bay gradually subsided and was then blocked by the streets lined with tall terraced houses.

They drove through the Parsi district, past the Diamond Bazaar, and into a snarl of traffic.

Weaving back and forth between motorcycles, buses, trucks, bicycles, bullock carts and pedestrians, it was dangerous at every turn.

Ron's driving skills improved rapidly in Mumbai, and about half an hour later, under Abdullah's guidance, they arrived near the suburbs of Khar.

In the distance, a dilapidated shelter was built on the rusty stones of the railway siding.

This is their destination.

The group got off the train and, led by Abu, passed through the gaps in the fences, crossed the trench and entered the railway area.

This rusty plateau serves as a train staging area, where most city trains and many freight trains stop.

Behind the substation are supporting offices, warehouses, and maintenance sheds. Further behind is a huge shunting area, where dozens of railways intersect in a large open space.

Beyond the barbed wire is the comfortable and bustling suburb of Karl, with its bustling traffic, gardens, balconies and markets.

The railway area is a lifeless barren land with no plants, no animals, and no people.

The leper slum was located here. Ron and Luca looked at each other and followed Abu forward.

(End of this chapter)