During my short stay in Mumbai, I saw two activities that I found incredible. Use YouTube to see these activities in action....I did and they are excellent!!!!
Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat - Dhobi walla in Indian means "person who washes clothing". Mumbai Dhobi Ghat is the world's largest outdoor laundry which encompasses over 1000 open-air troughs where clothes are washed, then hung to dry and finally ironed and folded. Each trough is rented by a business person for 300 rupees per year who hires between 10 - 15 men to wash clothing and linens for businesses and people he has as customers. Each washer is called a "dhobi wallah", a man who works approximately 14 hours per day and is paid 100 - 150 rupees per day; that's $2 - 3 per day. These wallahs not only work in the Ghat, they live there. I visited this open air laundry as part of my "Mumbai Highlights" tour and our guide was one of the "dhobi wallahs". Woman may not work at the gnat because of the strenuous working conditions and the danger from some of the materials used to clean the laundry such as caustics.
Pre-Wash for Export Goods
Dabbawalla - One activity that I had seen on TV is a lunch delivery system unique to Mumbai. The following description was taken from Wikipedia..."a dabbawalla meaning ("box person"), is a person in India, most commonly found in the city of Mumbai, who is employed in a unique service industry whose primary business is collecting freshly cooked food in lunch boxes from the residences of the office workers (mostly in the suburbs), delivering it to their respective workplaces and returning the empty boxes back to the customer's residence by using various modes of transport."
On my own, I traveled to Churchgate rail station, one of the distribution sites, to witness this unique service in action. I was told to arrive around 11 AM and waited. Train passengers came and went and I couldn't tell whether the various packages carried by the people were the delivery service in action, no…no. Finally, at 11:20 AM, the first "dabbawalla" arrived carrying an 8 foot-long tray filled with lunch containers balanced on his head...another came...another...another. Other wallahs walked-up and others came by bicycle to consolidate the food containers by delivery route. Containers are marked in some unfathomable code indicating the residence and office delivery points. By 11:50 AM, only one-half hour, they came and went and 10,000s of workers in Mumbai received their lunch.
AMAZING
Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat - Dhobi walla in Indian means "person who washes clothing". Mumbai Dhobi Ghat is the world's largest outdoor laundry which encompasses over 1000 open-air troughs where clothes are washed, then hung to dry and finally ironed and folded. Each trough is rented by a business person for 300 rupees per year who hires between 10 - 15 men to wash clothing and linens for businesses and people he has as customers. Each washer is called a "dhobi wallah", a man who works approximately 14 hours per day and is paid 100 - 150 rupees per day; that's $2 - 3 per day. These wallahs not only work in the Ghat, they live there. I visited this open air laundry as part of my "Mumbai Highlights" tour and our guide was one of the "dhobi wallahs". Woman may not work at the gnat because of the strenuous working conditions and the danger from some of the materials used to clean the laundry such as caustics.
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| View of Dhobi Gnat |
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| How Laundry Arrives |
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| Washing in the Troughs |
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| Drying - No Cloth's Pins |
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| Charcoal Heated Iron |
Pre-Wash for Export Goods
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| Home |
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| False Advertising |
Dabbawalla - One activity that I had seen on TV is a lunch delivery system unique to Mumbai. The following description was taken from Wikipedia..."a dabbawalla meaning ("box person"), is a person in India, most commonly found in the city of Mumbai, who is employed in a unique service industry whose primary business is collecting freshly cooked food in lunch boxes from the residences of the office workers (mostly in the suburbs), delivering it to their respective workplaces and returning the empty boxes back to the customer's residence by using various modes of transport."
On my own, I traveled to Churchgate rail station, one of the distribution sites, to witness this unique service in action. I was told to arrive around 11 AM and waited. Train passengers came and went and I couldn't tell whether the various packages carried by the people were the delivery service in action, no…no. Finally, at 11:20 AM, the first "dabbawalla" arrived carrying an 8 foot-long tray filled with lunch containers balanced on his head...another came...another...another. Other wallahs walked-up and others came by bicycle to consolidate the food containers by delivery route. Containers are marked in some unfathomable code indicating the residence and office delivery points. By 11:50 AM, only one-half hour, they came and went and 10,000s of workers in Mumbai received their lunch.
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AMAZING
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