| A unique
feature of Mumbai, the dhobi is a traditional laundryman,
who will collect your dirty linen, wash it, and return it
neatly pressed to your doorstep. All for a pittance. The
"laundries" are called "ghats": row
upon row of concrete wash pens, each fitted with its own
flogging stone. The clothes are soaked in sudsy water,
thrashed on the flogging stones, then tossed into huge
vats of boiling starch and hung out to dry. Next they are
ironed and piled into neat bundles. The most famous of
these Dhobi Ghats is at Saat Rasta near Mahalaxmi Station
where almost two hundred dhobis and their families work
together in what has always been a hereditary occupation. |
