Washing linen in public

I would go to the dhobi ghat at Mahalakshmi every day for two weeks from seven in the morning to four in the afternoon. The initial days were spent observing them. I was fascinated by the unique hand-made soap that they used to wash the clothes,the way they hit the clothes on the rocks and how they dried them in a manual dryer. How they ironed them with a coal iron and then folding them was another art, says Prateik.

The next few days were spent in mastering the dhobi act. The toughest part was going on to the rickety roofs of the 100- odd houses and throwing the clothes over strings which were tied in the most haphazard manner. The fun part was flinging the soaked clothes on the rocks. I even made some friends there. The whole experience was unforgettable, smiles Prateik.