In Mumbai, very close to Mahalaxmi suburban railway station is this famous Dhobi Ghat (Open air laundry) where clothes are washed in individual stone pens, by a large number of dhobis, and left to dry in the open. You will find many tourists out here busy taking pictures and also surprised at how this whole thing works...
In almost every part of the world there are such interesting spots where locals do not give a second look but tourists go gaga over it! I must have crossed this dhobi ghat so many times but only when one day i decided to go there with my camera i realised what i had missed till then and also wondered how folks out here keep track of clothes!!
11 comments:
Dhobi Ghat (DG)
Dolce & Gabbana Designer Clothes!
Wash n Wear!
Prince Charles is a great fan of amchi mumbai's dabbawalas. i am sure had Diana Spencer been there she would have gone ga ga over DG.
Dhobi Talao ( DT ), Dhobi Ghat (DG ) and Dileep chabria (DC) who tweaks cars into designer beauties at Mumbai.
One day I would seek his assistance to tweak mine too !
Faiyaz , DG is the higher end of D&G , hence you find Dolce & Gabanna and D&G as seperate logos.
Mumbai DG is the higher end of supply chain management.I still do not understand how they can manage to keep track of all the clothes & their owners without the the help of data management - Amazing Indeed !!
Adding on this is an example- KYC- "Know Your Customer " A project of Standard Chartered , they should learn from DG Mumbai.
Arun, Enarkay , Faiyaz- Good practices one can learn from DG, agree?
Amazing picture, Vims.
This is one of the Mumbai landmarks which never ceases to fascinate tourists. Surprisingly, I stayed at Bombay Central Station for one year, but never thought of visiting Dhobi Ghat! Yeah, it's remarkable how dhobis match clothes with people...only they know how to decode those fascinating little black dots that they mark the clothes with...a pretty fail safe method for them.
Coming to the dabbawalas, that is another of Mumbai's unique characteristics which I never gave much thought to even though I would see them crowding the side gates of Churchgate Station every mid morning.
It would be a good idea to do a photo shoot on them, Vims.
Thanx Tas... thatz on my mind. Working on it... yet to get into the right frame of mind to be able to do some justice. Sometimes I just photograph point blank. At times i read about the subject to get a feel and then go about documenting them. This is exactly what is keeping me away from photographing dabbawallas. One shot will not give an entire picture... it has to be a series of images and appropriately shot... Watch this space!
These Dhobis really swing!! Swing bowling and swinging the bat must come as easy as keeping the score.They should form the Dhobi Ghat Cricket Club. Sure to give the Shivaji Park guys a lesson or two!!
Vims, what you say makes sense. One can get the feel of the subject only after doing prior research. Take your time. If possible, would love to see the contents of one of those dabbas ;)...very curious!
I don't think I've mentioned it earlier, but I really like your designer header to this blog; specially your name on the stamp.
Wow! how do you manage to be so imaginative....really SOME talent you've got there, pal!
Great picture Vimal!! All the corporate folks talking about 'Six Sigma' should learn from the dhobis and dabbawalas of Mumbai. It is absolutely mind boggling how they deliver the right product to the right people and on time!!!
Not just Bombay, am I rt?
When I was in Eng. college, there was 1 dhobi (sounds funny in Oriya, it would be dhoba, dhobi being his better half) for approx. 1000 students.
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