Sanjay, a dhobi (washerman), seeks a little breeze while he speaks on the phone in a building where cauldrons of water and chemicals are brought to the boil on open fires. Dhobighat is an open air area where 'dhobis' wash the laundry for all strata of the city's society. It is here that, by hand, laundry, from hospital sheets to hospitality table cloths, from garment factory pieces to the everyday items from people's homes, is washed, dried and returned to its owners.