Living Life as a Dhobi (Man and Woman)

Abstract

Abstract The dhobis can be taken to represent a collective identity, but each person lives a life of his or her own. In this chapter the various phases of growing up as a dhobi are described, with examples taken from actual people. The approach is gendered, and the different experiences of being a man or a woman as well as the changes taking place over time are described through thick ethnography. Family life, power equations in the family, the relative lack of patriarchy among them, the roles played by women and men, and the changes in lifestyle are all described in detail with the help of examples. The chapter also describes the migrant dhobis, their relations with native dhobis, as well as the internal stratification of the community. The dhobi’s forays into education and taking up jobs outside of the dhobi occupation, through reservation and otherwise, and the discrimination faced by them as untouchables all find a place in this chapter.