Dhobi -The Indian Iron and Laundry man

The dhobi  or  laundry and  iron man in India  is  an institution in himself. In  fact  a dhobi caste exists and  is  recognized  and scheduled  by  the  government as  a  caste  in  need  of  empowerment.

With  the age  of  the  washing machine and  dhobis turning  to more  educated  and respectable  professions - (they  have special privileges  and  education and job  allotments,)   fewer  dhobis remain in the  fray.

There was  once  a  time  when every one (except  for  the  economically  backward) used  the  services  of  a  dhobi.

The  dhobi man  came  to  your  house  on his  bicycle to  collect  your  weekly laundry . Everything from  linen, to  all  sorts   of  garments , kitchen cloths,  bed  covers, sheets curtains even under wear (if  you so wanted) was  unloaded from  the family 's  laundry closet or  bag by  the dhobi. He  would then  seperate  each item according  to its nature and  gather  them  into  orderly piles. The  lady  of  the  house would  then come out  with  a  laundry book in which she  had  a list of all the  clothes to be  washed . As  she  called out the  name of  the  item,  the dhobi would  count the  number and  and tell the   memsahib. She  would  then enter it  in her  laundry book.  For  example
Saris -5
Towels - 8
Shirts - 11
Tablecloths (big)- 2
Tablecloths (small) -5 and so forth.

After that  the  dhobi would lay  out the  freshly washed  and  ironed  clothes which he  had  taken last  week and   lay  them out neatly on a  clean  spread  or carpet. Then  the accounting would begin in reverse  order. This  ritual would  be  repeated  once or  twice  a week.

The  dhobis  were   very  honest  and reliable,  but  occasionally clothes  would  disappear. Everyone  had  a  family  dhobi. Ours  was an ancient man who died  several  years  ago. His  sons  all have   very   good jobs  and  no one  pursued  this  lowdown laborious  profession.

The  dhobiji would  carry  the  laundry   wrapped  up  in  a  large  cotton sheet on the  back of  his  bicycle. They  also  used  donkeys -  specially  to  transport laundry to the dhobi ghat ( community washing  areas) or  riverside .

The  clothes  would be  pressed  with a  charcoal fired  iron box,  they  had  modern  electric  irons  too.

Now  of   course with modernization set  in, very  few  dhobis  are  around. They  are  more expensive  too. Laundry women (dhobins) can come to  your  house   and   do  your   laundry  by hand, then take the  dry  clothes (in the  evening) to  be ironed   in their  homes. And then there  are   the  advanced  , state  of  the   art dry cleaners  and laundries.

In the  good  old days I  was  given the  chore  of maintaining  the laundry book. It was fun. I  miss them old  times - the  smell  and touch  of  the   dhobi 's laundry.

Just  down the  down from  our  gate  a iron man sets  up  his  street  business.
He  presses  people 's  clothes. Different rates   for each item. He is  using  the  ancient iron, filled  with  charcoal embers. I sometimes give him   the  more  tricky clothes  to iron like  cotton  and  silk saris. He  does an excellent job.

( the  above  3  photos  were  shot  by me)

Did any one  of  you  use  a  laundry man  like him?

PS

This morning my Sheeba (dog) killed

a field rat - a huge  one.

Well done  Sheeba-

she ' s really in the hunting  mood  now.

We  are  harvesting lots of  tomatoes .

When (no ifs here) you come  to visit me

I will give  you a  bag full.

Soon instead of  blood  I will

be having tomato juice running

in my  veins.

I  am making  lots  of puree to  preserve.