The lives of Old Delhi's 'dhobis'

A book based on 50 years of field work throws light on the barely studied 'dhobi' community

- Somak Ghoshal

In the 1970s, Subhadra Mitra Channa, a Delhi-based scholar of social anthropology, was looking for a topic for her PhD when her (now late) husband and fellow anthropologist, Vardesh Chander Channa, came up with an unusual suggestion.

While pursuing his inquiry into the lives of the Agrawals of Old Delhi, V.C. Channa had found a biradari (community) of sheheri dhobis-an urban settlement of people traditionally involved in the caste-based occupation of washing and ironing clothes-around the area.

He drew his wife's attention to this group, igniting her lifelong interest, which has lasted over 50 years.

"In those days, the reality of working with an 'untouchable' community like the dhobis was tough," Channa says on a video call while speaking about her new book, Dhobis of Delhi.

"The reason why my relationship with the community has lasted so long is because they were incredibly good to me."

Although the heyday of Subaltern Studies, helmed by scholars Eric Stokes and Ranajit Guha in the 1980s, was a few years away, academics mostly focused on tribal communities or multi-caste rural societies in the 1970s.

Urban anthropology was not only unfashionable but, as Channa recounts, it was also actively disdained if it involved working with the "untouchables".

The dhobi wasn't quite the glamorous figure in the public discourse either.

It wasn't until 2010 that director Kiran Rao would cast a dhobi with aspirations to become a filmstar in the titular role of her debut movie, Dhobi Ghat.

Decades before Prateik Babbar's handsome "Munna", Kamini Kaushal had played the lead in Rami Dhoban (1953), a film that caused a wave of controversy for being casteist.

In myths, epics and folklore, dhobis did make periodic appearances, though not always flattering-for instance, the rumour that led to Sita's trial by fire in the Ramayan was believed to have been started by a dhobi.