Happiness, Home Delivered: The Dhobis and Dabbawalas of Mumbai

Dhobi Ghat

This is a walk around the bustling heart of Mumbai for an inside look into the workings of those who this dependable city depends on. How? By experiencing a day in the hectic life of the washermen of Dhobi Ghaat and the dabbawalas. Our walk is led by Ramanand with whom there is never a dull moment. He makes sure you look at things you wouldn't normally pay attention to, and he knows of all the best eating places few others know. Dhobi Ghaat at Cuffe Parade is unlike any laundry service you have ever seen. Washermen are hard at work beating the dirt out of clothes at stone cubicles, while others hang a kaleidoscope of clothes out to dry on makeshift lines quite ingeniously, without the help of clothes pins. Whether it is two thousand white sheets a day for the Four Seasons Hotel, or the saris of women from high-rises across the city, these dhobis get the job done cheerily and efficiently. You haven't experienced Mumbai if you haven't used its lifeline - its public transport. On this experience, you will enjoy unusual views in all-too famous local train. Feel the sea breeze on your face as you whizz past Marine Drive on your way to Churchgate to meet with the dabbawallas. A word of caution: those guys don't have the time for interviews and photographs. You will just about manage to scramble into their compartment on the train , where the floor is covered by tiffins and lunch packs of every possible shape and size. It's fascinating to see those dabbas carted from one end of the city to the other, and to everywhere in between. The footpath outside Churchgate station serves as a reconnaissance point, where the men in Gandhi topis wade among rows of hundreds of dabbas, and take them to offices where hungry executives wait in earnest for their home cooked meal to arrive, each day. Discover a league of Mumbaikars who are as intrinsic to the city as its own soul.