The men who wash our dirty linen

A look at the hard work behind your soft, newly-ironed linen

The dhobi is a traditional Indian washerman or woman who will collect your dirty linen, wash and return it, neatly pressed, to your doorstep. It is not a word or profession restricted to India. Even the Webster English dictionary has listed the Hindi word "dhobi" as an Indian washerman or woman.

In Dubai, despite huge advances in technology, the washermen play a major role in keeping clothes clean. Whatever you call them - dhobis, laundrymen or drycleaners - they are present in every residential area.

While the first laundry was started almost 55 years ago at Bur Dubai, the business is now going through a transitional phase.

The majority of the small laundries in Dubai are run by the dhobis of Unnav, Lucknow and Rai Bareli - three prominent districts of Uttar Pradesh (UP), northern India, famous for its washermen.

Now there are Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Iranian and Arab laundrymen, but the UP washermen continue to do as much as 90 per cent of the laundry work in Dubai.

These men come from a particular caste known for their skill in washing. For generations, these skills have been handed down, and this caste controls the laundry business not only in UP, but also in Mumbai, Delhi and other major Indian cities.

40 years on the job

Mewa Lal is a washerman from UP who has spent more than four decades in Dubai. Born to a family of farmers in Dherwa village, Unnav, Mewa attended school for just one day!

Now he owns three laundries in different parts of the city. "Laundry was not my family business. In India we used to do farming. When I came here I started working for another laundry near the abra station in Bur Dubai. As clean water was easily available from the Creek and residential areas started mushrooming there, the first laundries came up by the Creek," he said.

"I came to Dubai on a visa and worked for seven years with a laundry in Bur Dubai which paid me according to the amount of work. In the beginning, customers were very rare and sometimes we did not get any work at all," he said.

Tweaking his grey moustache and memory, Mewa recollected that for washing one piece of cloth, he earned between 10 and 25 paisa (then currency was the Indian rupee; 100 paisas made a rupee).

"I used to get around Rs.100 to Rs.110 a month and that income too was not regular. Three of us from UP used to work, cook and live together. We lived together for seven years," he said. "I am the only one alive from this group. I know many people from my village working in the laundry business but I can't remember all their names.

"I remember drinking water used to be brought from Bahrain on camel back. We used to pay half anna to four annas to buy one dabba (carton) of drinking water. Donkeys were also used to carry clothes and water.

"In Bur Dubai near the abra station, many Indians lived. Now many people live there, but in those days there were not many residents. People used to come and go," he said.

With the oil boom, Dubai began to develop. Along with other businesses, the laundry business too began doing well.

"After working for seven years in Bur Dubai, I began my own laundry in Jaffliya. Initially there were not many residents, but soon customers began to increase and the laundry business flourished," Mewa said.

In those days there were no washing machines, nor any water to wash clothes. "We made a well paying five dirhams. By digging for just two metres, we found sufficient water. Even during summer, the well water used to be cool.

"When I started business, I needed more people to work for me and I brought dhobis from my village in the UP. Many employees have been working in the same shop for the last 15 years, linked by loyalty to me and our village."

When Mewa Lal became old, his son Pappu took over the business. Pappu has studied in Dubai and speaks fluent English, unlike Mewa who speaks Hindi and Arabic.

"We have three shops - at Jaffliya, Al Barsha and Bur Dubai. This is a family business, running successfully from 1973. I have taken over the responsibilities from my father who is getting old. There is always a demand for laundry service from residential customers," Pappu said.

Business is suffering

However, small laundries are no longer doing good business. Many households tend to use washing machines or go to larger laundries.

"This is a business that takes hard work. After my father began the first laundry in Jaffliya, seven other laundries came up in the same area, competing for limited number of customers," Pappu Lal said.

Vinod, a washerman from Ghari in Unnav, said he came to Dubai 15 years back to work for a small laundry owned by someone from his village.

"My family have been traditionally in this line of work. My father and four brothers are doing laundry work in UP. I am working with the same shop for 15 years. We have a washing machine that can wash 50 pieces of clothes in half an hour.

"There is another machine to dry the clothes. We get all nationalities of customers - Arabs, Indians, Pakistanis and other expatriates," he said

"Our main source of business is big Arab families. But many have moved to bigger laundries, or get their clothes washed at home, either in a washing machine or by their domestic help.
"Many Arab families have also moved to Jumeirah and farther, affecting the business of small laundries in other places."

"There is no constant business. Sometimes many customers come, sometimes none," added
another washerman.

"Business is coming down. Moreover, if a worker has problems with the employer, he starts a new laundry. You need only Dh500 for a licence. So you see many laundries in one area," said Shindilal of Jairam Laundry.

Declining business and increasing costs of operation are putting pressure on small laundries.

"Some owners have left the country because they could not afford the rent, electricity and water bills. Business is run from rented premises and the only asset of a small laundry is an outdated washing machine, iron for steam ironing and some regular customers.

"Washermen typically buy used machines. To start a commercial laundry, a huge investment is required," said one washerman who did not want to give his name.

"We don't get laundry work from big companies, hotels or salons as they get their uniforms washed through big companies," he added.

Another problem is the constant change of hands. Take Five Star Laundry in Jaffli