If you weren't convinced by my last post about how hard the working class works here in India, check this out. This is Shweta, me and our guide for the Dhobi Ghat. He's a 3rd generation worker in Mumbai's biggest laundry. Here we're standing at the front gate:
This is the Mumbai laundry. Obviously not all of the city's laundry is done here, but a large amount still is. You can't imagine how hot and humid it is in this laundry. Each of the cement stalls that you see in the picture below is the wash area that one person uses to run their daily washing. This first picture gives you some idea as to how the city just keeps growing around it:
Each of these folks lives and works in the laundry. They have small rooms adjacent to their washing location where they live, surrounded by the massive humidity and heat going on around them.
The boiling of clothes is part of a re-use program. There are organizations here that collect garments from people who no longer want them, have them cleaned in a boiling/caustic water solution, and then sell them on at drastically reduced prices to people who can't afford new items.
So, when you enter in to this ironing/boiling tunnel, the temperature goes sky high and the air quality hits rock bottom. You're surrounded by burning wood and smoke.
Despite all the hard work, heat, and what we in North America would view as totally unacceptable conditions, these folks still manage to have fun and maintain a community relationship.
Here's a photo with me and one of the community kids in their large common area. I was told that he liked to be in photos, so I figured, why not lift him up and have some fun. Every night, folks gather here to cook food, socialize and eat.
This is the Mumbai laundry. Obviously not all of the city's laundry is done here, but a large amount still is. You can't imagine how hot and humid it is in this laundry. Each of the cement stalls that you see in the picture below is the wash area that one person uses to run their daily washing. This first picture gives you some idea as to how the city just keeps growing around it:
When you go in to some of the tunnels nestled inside the complex, you enter the area where the real heat happens - ironing and boiled washing of clothes.
The ironing is done with fire heated, heavy, iron irons. The people doing ironing typically iron 300 garments a day for 1 rupee per garment. That's something like $4.25 for a full day's work.
So, when you enter in to this ironing/boiling tunnel, the temperature goes sky high and the air quality hits rock bottom. You're surrounded by burning wood and smoke.
Despite all the hard work, heat, and what we in North America would view as totally unacceptable conditions, these folks still manage to have fun and maintain a community relationship.
Here's a photo with me and one of the community kids in their large common area. I was told that he liked to be in photos, so I figured, why not lift him up and have some fun. Every night, folks gather here to cook food, socialize and eat.
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