Mumbai Mania – Mahalakshmi Dhobi ghat.
The crazy thing about Mumbai is that no matter how congested the place is people don’t stop loving it ! Ask any true blue Mumbaikar and he or she will never say anything bad about the city. The crazier thing is that each time I visit Mumbai , the more inspired I am !
I still remember the first time I visited Mumbai ,I had just got out from a bike accident and my right arm was in a sling. I was terrified when I saw the crowd at Dadar station. I stood there for half an hour waiting for the crowd to reduce so that I could board the local train to CST without hurting my already hurting arm ! Seeing my dilemma an elderly man asked me “Is this your first time in Mumbai ? ” I nervously nodded my head ,he smiled at me and said “Dont worry Ill help you board the train, just stand next to me when the train comes” , well I dint have any other choice but trust this man. I stood next to him and waited for the train to come, the train came..then there was a blackout and by the time I could figure out what was going on I found myself inside the bogey !!! PHEW !!! That was a true nightmare !
The daily commuters.
Since that day I have been amazed at the beauty of the local trains of Mumbai. They truly are the backbone of this city.No matter what they just keep on running !!
Life in Mumbai is really fast, especially for a guy like me who comes from a small town like Trivandrum ! Well I have lived in other cities like Bangalore , Chennai and Pune , but life out there in Mumbai is completely different. Time is precious in Mumbai and the people here know how to cope up with it !
The typical stark contrast of Mumbai... view of Mahalakshmi Dhobi ghat.
I always wanted to visit Mumbai , just see how life works out there , how people live there , to find out more about this ever-growing city.
The first thing that anyone who visits Mumbai notices is the stark contrast in the standard of living ! On one side there are slums where people hardly have any money to even meet there ends and right next to it you find a soaring sky scraper !! Well I agree that life is hard , it’s just that its very visible in Mumbai.
I was more interested to have a sneak peek into the lives of the working class and my search led me directly to Mahalakshmi dhobi ghat. The place was congested , slippery with soap and water all over and there were clothes and clothes and more clothes everywhere !!
Dhobi in Action !!!
A helping hand .
The dhobi ghat is a township in itself.The freakishly narrow lanes inside the ghat was the home for more that 15 thousand people !! WHOA !! That was really hard to believe !
At dhobi ghat - A dhobi heats up large barrels with water. When the water starts boiling soap is added to it and the clothes are dipped in them to remove the tough stains.
More firewood.
Inside the dhobi ghat - Once the clothes are washed and dried they are neately folded and sent for ironing.
People work here 24/7 as clothes pour in from all parts of the city everyday. Work starts here as early as 5 in the morning and goes on till 8 or 9 in the night ! The dhobis are registered to the dhobi ghat association which look after the needs of all the people who work at the ghat.
Clothes being segregated.
A kid at dhobi ghat.
Portrait of a dhobi.
I spent a full day at the dhobi ghat , clicking pictures and talking to various people who worked at the ghat. Most of them were people who had come to Mumbai in search of jobs and when they dint find the right one they settled to become a dhobi. Life was not easy for these hard-working people.Their employers made them work for peanuts.The association rented out the place to various filmmakers for shooting various movies at very large sums ! But the money remained with the association and never reached the workers !! Their standard of living has been the same for ages and still remains the same.No one dares to question the employers for the fear of being fired, and so the story just keeps going on and on….I guess some stories don’t end the way we want them to…
As I left the place I realized that I had managed to see one small portion of the life in this city…. and as I boarded my train back to Pune I knew that I would be back to experience many more….
Hooolycow ! 
I read beautiful forevers. I just don’t get it. These people live in a tropical climate. Why aren’t they growing mango trees? They could have a whole plantation of wonderful fruit instead of miles of filth. Of all the stinkin rich people in the world, why doesn’t anybody try to change this?
Ha ha ha ha I wish it was so easy !! All of them are more worried about their own pockets .. no one cares about the others.
Nice Article capturing the feel of Mumbai…….
Thank u varun 🙂
Nice article 🙂
thank u 🙂
Excellent photos. I especially liked “PORTRAIT OF A DHOBI” and “More Firewood”. Great post!
thank you susan 🙂
Some nice moody shots.
Thank you 🙂