The Dhobis of Bandra

The Dhobis of Bandra, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

There are a lot of Dhobis in Bandra where I stay , originally the Bandra Reclamation area once was a Dhobi Ghat , later I am told after reclaiming the sea their shanties were bought by the builder lobby and buildings came up in their place.

Some got a a room in the building other took money and went back to their native place in Uttar Pradesh.

So in almost all the back lanes of Bandra Bazar there is a cluster of dhobis..and they have a flourishing business as the poor and the poor middle class use the dhobis instead of the dry cleaning shops.

The famous drycleaners are American Laundry and Bambi on Hill Road ..
In the bazar their is jut a single dry cleaners shop.


So predominantly at Chinchpokli lane , near Ram Mandir lane and in the Bandra slums you will find dhobis and also in Shaheen Building.

My dhobi guy is a third generation dhobi , his grand father used to pres our clothes , than his son and now the grand son in over 22 years that we ar in Bandra.

Our dhobi is from Shirley Village off Carter Road.

The dhobi is now an extension of our family's domestic chores.

And I like shooting Dhobis..