The Istri-walla saga

In India people usually do not iron as they depend on the Iron-walla or the Istri-walla. Since space is at a premium in Mumbai, people usually do not keep an iron at home. So if you have an ironing emergency, which I did have once, you start knocking on the doors of neighbors. Usually you will get strange looks, but by the tenth house you should hit pay dirt.

Like every group in India they are well organized and have territories clearly marked. If your Istri-walla disappears to his village without properly appointing a replacement, you may be out of luck. The Istri-walla who operates a block from your building will refuse to iron your clothes unless he has been properly "designated". So there is this code that no one violates at the expense of the customer. Looks are always deceptive in India. My mom was trying to catch a cab and encountered this Istri-walla, working near a building that looked abandoned. Wondering why anyone would set up shop in this location, she spoke to the guy. He said that a huge apartment complex was coming up and it would bring him lot of business, so he had marked his territory. So when the building came up no he would be the guy ironing clothes for the people living there. Guess, one would need an MBA to figure out what this strategy is called.

I got the idea to write about these Istri-wallas because of a chaotic incident on the night before we were leaving for Bangalore. Our regular guy took the clothes including a couple of my mom's expensive saris and did not return it. It was around 10 pm that my mom panicked and summoned the watchman and asked him to go in search of the Istri-walla. He came back and reported that he had locked up his ironing shack if you could call it that and disappeared. My mom was in a state of panic convinced he had disappeared for good with her saris. Anyway, the day we returned, the guy showed up with the sarees saying he came looking for us the last couple of days and it was business as usual. My mom yelled at him, saying I told you we were heading out of town and you said you would bring the saris within an hour. He said he wanted to but it was getting late. My mom was like then why did you just not return them without ironing for which his response was a guilty look. I guess turning away business is never good...and it is not like my mom has a choice of using another Istri-walla, unless she moves to a different location.