Pressing matters

He's an iron man. That's Gangaram Balaram Pardesi with his 18-pound iron - his tool, and yes, his friend too! For over eight hours of eac...

He’s an iron man. That’s Gangaram Balaram Pardesi with his 18-pound iron – his tool, and yes, his friend too! For over eight hours of each day, that is his sole companion, as he works in his laundry near Aurora Towers, Camp.

His tryst with the ironing board goes back to his childhood days. Pardesi’s father used to wash and iron clothes for military officers in the Southern Command area. “We lived in the quarters of the command house and worked exclusively for the defence personnel – almost like their personal staff. Wash, iron, deliver the clothes to their home, that’s what my father did, and eventually I, too, began to help him. We’d hand-wash all the clothes – even the uniforms of the top brass. That had to be meticulously done, ensuring that no button came loose, or that the epaulets were washed separately. The sashes, the tags – we really had to be careful,” remembers Pardesi.

About 20 years ago, he decided to venture out on his own. Knowing no skill other than washing and ironing, his choice was obvious – to set up his own laundry. Its location has not changed, merely shifted a couple of feet here and there in compliance with the authorities’ orders when the road was widened. A temporary stall initially, Pardesi renovated it on acquiring a loan from the bank over a decade ago.

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“It’s amazing when I think back – I’ve spent nearly two decades right here – bent over the ironing board. Things have changed all around me. Right from the way this place looks to the electricity charges. Earlier, I would charge Rs 1.25 to iron woollen clothes (for which I charge the most). Now, it’s up to Rs 25. To iron saris, it costs anything from Rs 8 to 15 and it is Rs 10 to steam-press a shirt-pant set. Basically, it depends on how big the garment is, and what kind of material it is. Wool and silk, nylon and terrycot require special care, cotton is normal stuff,” says the man who knows his linen.

While earlier Pardesi would hand-wash all the items, it’s the age of the washing-machine today. “I mark the clothes and then get them washed at some place else. Now, I only do the ironing, which gets me about Rs 250 per day. I’ve also included dry wash now. After all, I have electricity bills of about Rs 800 to pay, and I need to look at new avenues to earn more.”

Generally content with the way his day works out to be, Pardesi does have his bad moments – when some garment either gets burnt or exchanged and consequently not returned! That’s when he has to pay out of his pocket, about half the price. “I’ve even paid up to Rs 600 when some clothes got handed over to the wrong person who then flicked them,” he says ruefully.

But come occasions like weddings and the bucks come rolling in, or times like when “a film crew was put up at Hotel Aurora Towers, and I’d get about 50 clothes a day.” Those are days he waits for, when he attacks the ironing board with greater gusto!