Sunday, June 21, 2009

The washer-woman's ('reddy nanda's) visit to a house, Sri Lanka.

The soiled linen in a household in Sri Lanka, was collected by a washer woman, was cleaned and ironed and was delivered back the next week. The washer-woman in Sinhalese and Tamil society held a very responsible position. In Sinhalese society she was called 'reddy nanda' literally 'cloth aunt'. Here you see a 'reddy nanda' paying her once a week visit, to a house in Sri Lanka. This occupation is dying out with washing machines now replacing her duties.