"Thou shalt not wash thy dirty linen in public" - is an age-old adage all right. What it doesn't account for is - what do you do if all your linen is dirty ?After 8 days of continuous travel, all that you're left with is suitcases of dirty linen.
Initially, you do everything in your capacity to manage with dirty linen.Can't speak for others in the family- (We don't discuss matters such as these within the family), but my approach has been rather simple. Wear the same clothes multiple times in a different combination of shirt and jeans so that at least the photographs look different. Some linen can be worn inside out- you feel it is a different, newer set that way and anyway others wouldn't know! If you know what I mean. Sometimes, you resort to a selective washing technique. By choice, you exclude some linen- jeans anyway would never show, stonewashed or unwashed. Another technique (gross) is selective washing within a given piece of linen- All parts of a shirt need not be equally washed- It's enough to wash around the collar and under the arm, dry it and perfume it!
When you've exhausted all these methods, well, it's survival of the fittest after all- a family war of sorts ensues. You look for pieces of linen from other family members which can be stolen and swapped- a fresh pair of socks for instance.
It's not as if we did not try to get the dirty linen washed- left no stones unturned and no avenues unexplored at Lucerne, Switzerland. Hotel Cascada did have the provision to get clothes washed. "You can bundle the clothes and hand it over to me before 9:00 am. I will ensure that it is washed and delivered by the end of the day"- said the manager on duty. That's when we glanced at the price list. 4 Swiss francs to wash an underwear. I ran a quick currency converter in my mind. It's about 200 rupees to wash one piece of jockey underwear. That's about its actual cost!
I needed an excuse to explore other options. I told her 9:00 am would not work for me. "Do you have a public laundromat in Lucerne?" I asked her.
Sure, there was one in the Old Town. "Yes, we're open from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon and again from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm", said the proprietor of the place. Switzerland is that kind of place. The grocery closes at 6:30 pm. Some shop owners nap for lunch and down their shutters. Others are completely closed on Sundays. We're told everyone needs family time in Switzerland- including shopkeepers. Coming from India, we are too spoilt to digest this.
Anyway, the Old Town laundromat was too far away. Plus, at 10 francs a load for washing another 10 for drying, it was a tad too expensive.
Hence, we threw decency to the winds and landed at our friend's (names withheld for privacy) place at Zurich with our dirty linen. Of course, we had always planned to visit them and play with their two adorable children, but now we were armed with a dirty agenda as well.
Enjoyed a simple day- a rest day of sorts centered on hearth and home. Dug into delicious lunch at their home, played with the kids and strolled around their pretty neighborhood. Settled down for a quiet dinner of idli-sambar and curd-rice. And the conversation flowed as did the cups of tea.
And of course, we washed our dirty linen: 3 full loads.
Coming back to the dirty linen, how can these places which are so tourist friendly miss out a basic requirement like affordable laundry ? What do other travelers do ?
Where are all the dhobis (washermen), their donkeys and their ghats in Switzerland ? Mumbai even has a locality named after them- Dhobi Talao. We even make movies on them- Dhobi Ghat.
Regardless of the reasonable proficiency in Hindi that I may have acquired over the years, my genes (dirty linen!) are South Indian after all. We just don't know which consonant in Hindi needs to be stressed. It's stressful I tell you! Take the following title of an erstwhile movie.
Is the film "Do bheega zameen" (Two wet lands) or is the film "Do bigha zameen (Two units of land) ? Is there someone out there who can clarify my doubt ? I believe it is neither. The Balraj Sahni classic was actually a film on Dhobis. Perhaps, he was stuck with dirty linen as well in Europe. The title should be "Dhobi ka zameen!" (Dhobi's land!)
Initially, you do everything in your capacity to manage with dirty linen.Can't speak for others in the family- (We don't discuss matters such as these within the family), but my approach has been rather simple. Wear the same clothes multiple times in a different combination of shirt and jeans so that at least the photographs look different. Some linen can be worn inside out- you feel it is a different, newer set that way and anyway others wouldn't know! If you know what I mean. Sometimes, you resort to a selective washing technique. By choice, you exclude some linen- jeans anyway would never show, stonewashed or unwashed. Another technique (gross) is selective washing within a given piece of linen- All parts of a shirt need not be equally washed- It's enough to wash around the collar and under the arm, dry it and perfume it!
When you've exhausted all these methods, well, it's survival of the fittest after all- a family war of sorts ensues. You look for pieces of linen from other family members which can be stolen and swapped- a fresh pair of socks for instance.
It's not as if we did not try to get the dirty linen washed- left no stones unturned and no avenues unexplored at Lucerne, Switzerland. Hotel Cascada did have the provision to get clothes washed. "You can bundle the clothes and hand it over to me before 9:00 am. I will ensure that it is washed and delivered by the end of the day"- said the manager on duty. That's when we glanced at the price list. 4 Swiss francs to wash an underwear. I ran a quick currency converter in my mind. It's about 200 rupees to wash one piece of jockey underwear. That's about its actual cost!
I needed an excuse to explore other options. I told her 9:00 am would not work for me. "Do you have a public laundromat in Lucerne?" I asked her.
Sure, there was one in the Old Town. "Yes, we're open from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon and again from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm", said the proprietor of the place. Switzerland is that kind of place. The grocery closes at 6:30 pm. Some shop owners nap for lunch and down their shutters. Others are completely closed on Sundays. We're told everyone needs family time in Switzerland- including shopkeepers. Coming from India, we are too spoilt to digest this.
Anyway, the Old Town laundromat was too far away. Plus, at 10 francs a load for washing another 10 for drying, it was a tad too expensive.
Hence, we threw decency to the winds and landed at our friend's (names withheld for privacy) place at Zurich with our dirty linen. Of course, we had always planned to visit them and play with their two adorable children, but now we were armed with a dirty agenda as well.
Enjoyed a simple day- a rest day of sorts centered on hearth and home. Dug into delicious lunch at their home, played with the kids and strolled around their pretty neighborhood. Settled down for a quiet dinner of idli-sambar and curd-rice. And the conversation flowed as did the cups of tea.
And of course, we washed our dirty linen: 3 full loads.
Coming back to the dirty linen, how can these places which are so tourist friendly miss out a basic requirement like affordable laundry ? What do other travelers do ?
Where are all the dhobis (washermen), their donkeys and their ghats in Switzerland ? Mumbai even has a locality named after them- Dhobi Talao. We even make movies on them- Dhobi Ghat.
Regardless of the reasonable proficiency in Hindi that I may have acquired over the years, my genes (dirty linen!) are South Indian after all. We just don't know which consonant in Hindi needs to be stressed. It's stressful I tell you! Take the following title of an erstwhile movie.
Is the film "Do bheega zameen" (Two wet lands) or is the film "Do bigha zameen (Two units of land) ? Is there someone out there who can clarify my doubt ? I believe it is neither. The Balraj Sahni classic was actually a film on Dhobis. Perhaps, he was stuck with dirty linen as well in Europe. The title should be "Dhobi ka zameen!" (Dhobi's land!)
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