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Stances. Demands. Negotiations and rollbacks. That's
what this whole dhobi-in dhobi-out riff-raff has boiled
down to. For the annoyed BITSian, it’s all about the tenday old unwashed clothes stowed away beneath his/her
bed. Meanwhile, the Institute, the Students’ Union,
the Laundromat Service and the dhobis find
themselves in a stalemate regarding the washermen's
woes. All of these factions have different things at stake.
The Chief Warden, Dr. Sai Jagan Mohan is one of the
members representing the institute in this matter.
Complete elimination of the Laundromat Service. In a
letter to the institute, they state that generations of their
families have been working in Pilani, and the
introduction of the Laundromat Service would make it
hard for them to make ends meet.
Having made use of the services of such a community
right from the time when BITS started, it would be
unfair on “humanitarian grounds” to shun them all at
once at the altar of technology, he says. To the 4000-odd
students on campus, 130 dhobis used to cater services. He
keeps citing the RP Dhobi, who's been here right from
1954. “60 years of service here - that's a very, very long
time.” Also, he produces the letter (written by the Dhobi
Union), in which the dhobis have explicitly stated their
demand of 'quit laundromat.'
“The dhobi community is expressing acute solidarity.
However, their representatives are not aggressive in their
discussions with us and at times, agree with our view.
They aren't able to convince their entire community that
the institute's view is reasonable.” He maintains that the
Institute cannot be too hard on the dhobis, but at the
same time, we cannot give them the wrong signal that
they are indispensable.
Even if we were to throw humanitarian grounds out the
window, let's face it - we still need the dhobis around. For
So as to get the dhobis’ opinion on the logjam, the
English Press Club spoke to Harishankar, from the
Dhobi Union. His views have been collated and
presented below.
The village of Pilani houses nearly 130 washermen and
washerwomen, who together provide services to the
student population of BITS Pilani. Despite the fact that
they also cater to the teachers, assorted staff members
and also the families in Pilani, the dhobis claim to have
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one, we aren't equipped well enough to mechanise the
laundry of the entire campus. And two, some students
prefer them over the machines - flexibility of the dhobis
has been the major reason. However, “there is no
question of taking a hard-line stance. A sudden
expansion into machine washing is not on the cards
anyway,” says the Chief Warden.
And of course, the dhobi needs the BITSian, for whom
he's been washing clothes for years.
Sunday, the 18th of January saw a queer turn of events.
The sigh of relief that BITSians let out when they heard
the familiar “Bhaiyya, kapde de do.. ” in their wing was
soon to be replaced by frustration when their dhobi
returned the dirty clothes the same evening with a
“bhaiyya, strike fir se shuru ho gaya”. What's worse, in some
bhawans the dhobis have held on to people's clothes, and
it's been four days since. And for the lazy BITSian, as if
the winter wasn't a legitimate enough reason not to
bathe, a fast dwindling wardrobe is becoming the more
recent excuse. What happened from the Institute's side
was this: one section of the administration came to a
temporary (hasty, rather?) settlement with the dhobis.
The dhobis agreed that they would wash clothes on the
condition that the Laundromat wouldn't pick up clothes
directly from the common rooms. “Apne doston ko dekhke
aur bacche bhi laundromat ko istamal karne lag jayenge”, and
what not.
What that meant was students were to go directly to the
C.V.Raman Bhawan to get their clothes washed. This
condition was agreed upon by a section of the Institute.
And that's what we find a bit hard to swallow. Why was
a deal of this kind agreed upon? What is the point of the
Laundromat Service if it wouldn't provide a simple
pickup and drop service? Would the students have to
make their way across campus with a bag of linen? It was
with these questions that the SU President approached
lost nearly 1300 to 1500 students to the newly
constructed Laundromat, a number that they say is
proving fatal to their finances. They feel that they are
losing the income generated by entire wings of students
to the Laundromat, when, in order to meet the six
kilogram weight limit in place for a laundry pickup,
multiple students team up to give their laundry for
washing on a single membership card. Also, the ease of
non-monetary transaction that the membership cards are
providing to the students is an added factor that tips the
scales in favour of the Laundromat. The loss of employ
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SPECIAL ISSUE
PILANI
JANUARY 2015
the Director the very same day and the settlement was
withdrawn. And hence, you saw your dhobis hand you
back your dirty clothes that evening.
Right now, the matter stands as follows. The dhobis,
(according to Dr. Sai Jagan Mohan) have been told that
the 500 odd students registered for Laundromat Service
are going to stay registered and avail services for the
semester. Any new talks with them would have to be
started off with this as the premise. Thursday (the 22nd
of January) would be the day when talks will be resumed.
The Chief Warden's “gut feeling” says that the dhobi
drama will come to an end fairly soon.
For, he says “BITS has handled much worse situations
like the mess strikes.” For a quick history lesson on the
mess strikes, you might want to talk to some old and
wizened seniors. “Students need to be patient in their
outlook, and a mature student community is one that
trusts that the administration, knows their wants and ha