Laundress Poem by nimal dunuhinga

Dhobis usually operate from door to door collecting dirty linen from households. After a day or two, they return the linen washed, sometimes starched and ironed. Dhobis were the forerunners on the Indian subcontinent to modern professional dry cleaners. Since the dhobi charges are much lower than those of dry cleaners, they are popular with most households.Each dhobi marks a unique symbol or character on garments belonging to a particular household. This is marked in black indelible ink to prevent it from being washed off. Dhobis may wash the clothes themselves or outsource it to dhobis who only wash clothes. In Andhra Pradesh this caste is known as Rajaka (Chakali) and they make up 6% of the Andhra Pradesh population.This group is known as Madvala or Rajaka in the state of Goa.In Mumbai, dhobis are an integral feature of the city.All the dhobis wash their linen in the Mahalaxmi area known as Dhobi Ghat. This area is strangely popular with foreign tourists looking for a piece of quintessential Indianness. Another region in South Mumbai, Dhobitalao, used to be a lake where British soldiers used to have their uniforms washed about 120 years ago.There are also streets called Dhobi (or Dhoby) Ghaut in Singapore and Penang (Malaysia) , where Indian dhobis used to carry out their ancestral business.Dhobi remains British Armed Forces slang for washing (i.e. 'doing your dhobi') . In addition, washing powder is known as 'dhobi dust'.
Sometimes, a colloquial verb 'to dhobi' is used. The sentence 'My clothes were stinking, so I took them off and dhobied them native fashion by bashing them on a wet rock' from The Gold of Malabar by Berkely Mather, an author who had spent many years in India.The word 'dhobi' has been absorbed into the Malay language as 'dobi' to mean 'laundry'. So 'kedai dobi' means 'laundry shop'. A laundry shop in Malaysia may be owned by any race, not only Indian.Dhobi itch is an alternative name for jock itch. In Sri Lanka too the rheumatoid culture is same and they treat them as low caste and offer a small chair to sit! What a ridiculous World is this?

What are you doing my little Angel at this Twilight by the River bank?
I thought you're a Goddess and I am a Buffalo boy
To my stingy Master's herd!
Please do not run like a reindeer
I am your faithful brother.
If you wait for a while I play the flute
And if you are interested the tune
I spend my whole life to teach you,
Why you wash others dirt and their sins?
If I have a tiny World of my own
Definitely I give you a Buffalo ride
But I am only a Buffalo boy
And not a seasonal Jockey!