The Heritage Of The Dhobis Of Bandra Bazar Road
Once upon a time , many years back the entire Bandra Reclamation area and parts of Bandra Bazar road was a sea front , where the Dhobis dried the clothes and it was a Dhobi Ghat .
When all this land was reclaimed slums became buildings the Dhobis got rooms in place of their tenements and till this day Shaheen Building houses the Dhobis they wash the clothes get it dried near Carter Road and have it pressed in these rooms .
Most of the Dhobis are Bhaiyyas North Indian migrants .. the other race that stayed alongside here with them were the Kathiawadis and the Karie Muslims of Konkan the place is till this day called Karie chawl.
With the advent of the jeans and second hand cloth sellers of Bandra Hill Road the Dhobis got a new lease on their profession , these clothes are washed altered pressed and re sold much cheaper than the stores on Bandra Hill Road .
The small time Bakda tailors alter the big size jeans into drain pipe stilettos , or cut the badly used jeans into micro shorts that fashionistas buy off the streets .
The Dhobis still grumble that the builders who bought their slums gave them a raw deal as they had huge sprawling houses in the past on the shoreline that is now the Reclamation and Bazar Road .
This part of Bandra is the most neglected area of the Queen of the Suburbs , given step motherly treatment by all the politicians who represent this area ,,,the worst deal was given to the East Indian original inhabitants of Bandra fishing villages known as Gaothans ,, sadly any political party that comes to power forgets to develop this this rich heritage block where all communities live in peace hope harmony.
For last 15 years this area has been taken for a ride ..the local bazar is the filthiest dirtiest , open garbage , open gutters , open drains but our local representatives are the only ones that cant see it ,,they are busy developing Pali Hill Carter Road Band Stand and Linking Road Khar Santarcruz..
And there is a drubbing in the offing because you cant fool all the people all the time with false promises colorful brochures and Dengue Free Bandra .
I hope Advocate Ashish Shelar and Mr Aaditya Thackeray Ms Punam Mahajan read this too.. the ruling satraps dont read blogs ,,
