The Washing Ghats
Janet Johnson, Client.
We arrived at Ahilya Fort long after nightfall and were shown to a beautifully panelled and flower strewn room.
The next morning, as dawn was breaking, we were woken by the gentle murmur of voices and the sound of beating. Opening the door onto our turret balcony, we could look down far below in the pale morning light, to the women already at work on the washing ghats built at the river's edge far below us. The river was coming to life, boats were moving, some under engine power, but many still punted or paddled, carrying passengers or cargo across to the other side.
As the light grew stronger - the scene became more vivid. The embankment crowded with women working while their small children played around them and the older ones, dressed in their school uniforms, went off to their lessons. Goats, cows and dogs wandered past the piles of washing, which having been soundly beaten were then neatly folded before being carried back home. We ventured down to discover that breakfast had been laid out for us on the terrace, still within earshot of all the activity on the ghats below. It was a haven of peace in the middle of thriving activity, with the muted sounds of the town ever present during daylight hours, in particular the children doing their lessons in the school next door and the clacking of looms from the weaving co-operative just below.
