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A unique feature of Mumbai, the dhobi is a traditional
laundryman, who will collect your dirty linen, wash
it, and return it neatly pressed to your doorstep. All
for a pittance. The "laundries" are called "ghats":
row upon row of concrete wash pens, each fitted with
its own flogging stone. The clothes are soaked in sudsy
water, thrashed on the flogging stones, then tossed
into huge vats of boiling starch and hung out to dry.
Next they are ironed and piled into neat bundles. The
most famous of these Dhobi Ghats is at Saat Rasta near
Mahalaxmi Station where almost two hundred dhobis and
their families work together in what has always been
a hereditary occupation.
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