Mumbai’s Dhobi Ghat Through The Looking Glass

Mumbai may be better known as the ‘City of Dreams’ but for me it will always be one of contradictions. No, this is not a diatribe against the rich and the privileged but let me tell you this: I was shaken out of my slumber the other day at none other than the famous and infamous Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat.

The Idea

Having read about Dhobi Ghat and seen it being featured as an integral backdrop in several cinematic pieces, I had long nurtured the wish to visit it one day. Please do not misunderstand the intentions, for voyeurism was far from my mind. I was just curious to witness how differently life can translate in a place like this. Though hard to locate, my husband Tariq and I eventually reached the largest open laundry in the world at the Saat Raasta roundabout of Mahalaxmi Railway Station with the guidance of helpful bystanders. Word of caution: Please do not proceed without sensitivity.

The Setting

It was 9:30 am in the morning and this part of Mumbai was progressing with its daily rigmarole. Rather unexpectedly, the crowd was not dense and someone who looked like a local inhabitant came forth to help us park. We were soon to discover that his name was Bala and his slight though not overly friendly smile urged us to talk to him some more. Dressed humbly but with a confidence that is hard to ignore, he offered his deformed arm for a handshake. We took his offer to show us around as the first sight of the dark lanes of the Dhobi Ghat told us plainly: You will not be able to find your way around just by yourselves.

The Tour

Dhobi Ghat has the power to make your jaw drop. As Bala threw fun facts about the place, we were truly amazed. We were told that the Dhobi Ghat traces its roots back to the British Raj when it was constructed in a radius of 2 kilometres and fitted with 1,000 tubs. About 5,000 washermen or dhobis work here round the clock cleaning approximately 1.7 lakh garments, both old and new, every single day!

The ghat has been organized, though not by the Municipal Corporation but by the people there, remarkably well. There is a section dedicated to boiling water to soak very dirty and sometimes infected clothes (from the hospitals). Then there is a section where people wash clothes on the flogging stone the traditional way, and a part even has washing machines and dryers of different kinds. The clothes are dried systematically on clotheslines tied really close to each other for maximum space utilization. Next step is ironing and that too happens in this very place.

Wondering who the clients are? Hotels, hospitals, garment manufacturers, recycled cloth dealers to name a few. We are told that the jersey Sachin Tendulkar wore to his retirement game was washed right here!

The Life

“Dhobi ke bachche bhi doctor bante hain!” Bala said matter-of-factly. One can only imagine the challenges these kids must have overcome to go beyond the boundary of the Dhobi Ghat. Just behind the washing spaces, you will notice are the households of the dhobis with their wives cooking and cleaning while the kids study in the small alley that also doubles up as a yard. Ask the dhobhis, what detergent power do they use? They say it is a luxury they cannot afford. The chemicals are purchased in raw form by them to be brewed and mixed so that the garment can be cleaned well. The result? Shining bright clothes, of course! But one is bound to remember the dhobi’s hands and feet getting unnaturally whitened and chafed due to direct exposure to the harsh chemicals. No one seems to care.

The Future

One can only hope for a humane future for the inhabitants of the Dhobi Ghat. Bala tells us that the Municipal Corporation does not allow tourists in the laundromat. The complicated permission system stands testimony to that fact. But people come that way day in and day out to be received by guides like him for a token amount. This money, he claimed, is used for the betterment of the ghat. Not many are aware of the fact that the Dhobi Ghat is a recipient of several awards including World Record but the place and its denizens continue to be ignored by the higher authorities. Only folks like me and you go there to witness a very important lesson: how man triumphs against all odds!

(Pictures courtesy Tariq Khan)