Dhobi Ghat

Dhobi ghat, or washerman’s way, is in center of Mumbai and has long been an area for public washing of clothing and linen. The linen comes from hospitals, homes and garment factories all over the city and is placed in big bags to be transported. Each cubicle holds one dhobi and he stands in ankle-deep water and bangs the clothing against a stone slab to clean it. It is later dried by hanging or small dryers and ironed before returning. The British began the tradition long ago, but since the advent of home washing machines the traffic has been cut down to one million pieces a day. The dhobis are paid about 150 rupees a day for 16-hours of work which amounts to 3 dollars. They sleep in shacks next to the cubicles and have two months vacation during the monsoon. White linen is placed in a solution called neel which gives it a slight blue tint to make it appear whiter.