Friends of ours recently purchased a Laundromat here in Australia about an hour and a bit north of ours – its name – bestowed upon it by its previous Indian owners - is Dhobi Ghat.
| Dhobi Ghat Laundromat – it even rhymes! “But what does it all mean?” I wondered. So I turned to Google. As you do. It turns out that the words Dhobi Ghat are used all over India to refer to any place where many washers of laundry gather. But the most famous of all such places is the Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat in Mumbai that was build back in 1890. |
Essentially this is an open air Laundromat offering laundry services. You either wash your laundry yourself or you leave it with the washers to do. These washers, known as dhobis, work in the open air - come rain or shine - and clean the clothes and linens from Mumbai's hotels, businesses and even hospitals. The word ‘Ghat’ meanwhile is used to describe any area where there is a series of steps leading down to a body of water – whether that water is for bathing or laundry or – morbidly – even for cremation purposes as happens on the banks of the River Ganges at the Ghats in Varanasi.
| Back at Dhobi Ghat in Mumbai however, the focus is very much on laundry. For 18 to 20 hours each day, over 7,000 dhobis flog, scrub, dye and bleach clothes while working in concrete wash pens. Some of the wealthier dhobis no longer wash the clothes manually in the pens and have installed large washing machines and dryers instead. |  Image: Wikipedia |
 Image credit: Wikimedia Commons | For the majority of dhobis however, doing the laundry is a manual process and – once washed - the laundry then dries on ropes before being pressed and delivered back to the different parts of the city from where it first came. The dhobi’s biggest clients are smaller neighbourhood laundries, garment dealers, wedding decorators, caterers, hotels, hospitals and clinics and various clubs. |
The Dhobi Ghat Mahalaxmi area has become quite a tourist destination for the wonderful photo opportunities it offers and is also home to the dhobis and their families.
In 2011 a melancholy art-house movie called Dhobi Ghat was released which is also known by the title of ‘Mumbai Diaries’.
In 2011 a melancholy art-house movie called Dhobi Ghat was released which is also known by the title of ‘Mumbai Diaries’.
| According to one reviewer the movie “Portrays the drudgery and the magnificence of the city in unforgettable imageries" – with many of those imageries filmed on location at Dhobi Ghat. The movie’s on Netflix. It has only three and a half stars on Rotten Tomatoes – but what the heck – I’m going to give it a go – wish me luck! |
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