Sep 20, 2006 07:03 PM
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The first time I used a dishwasher was when I went on holiday to London where I stayed with relatives. They had a dishwasher that took care of the entire dish load twice a day. The only dishes that weren’t washed in the machine were the kadai and the pressure cooker. The dishes emerged, almost magically after an hour or so, squeaky clean and smelling good. This relatively simple piece of technology left me completely awestruck. Imagine never having to wrangle with the bai over the quality of her washing!! Imagine never having to wash those dishes yourself on the days when the maid does a bunk!!! Suddenly the world opened up before me …an amazing world in which technology had transformed the way I ran my kitchen!
So convinced, I set off to acquire a dishwasher the day after I landed from my holiday. I started my search for “The Perfect Dishwasher “ at the friendly neighborhood showroom selling electronic items. The salesman there gave me a blank look and asked me why I would want to waste money on something so expensive when I could get myself a maid at a fraction of the cost. I of course gave the man a pitying look and told him it was my choice after all and his business to sell me what I needed. He then revealed that they didn’t stock dishwashers, that they are usually not readily available, that very few brands are available in the market, that even if I were to buy one, the after sales service for all of them is terrible because most of the machines are imported in semi knock down condition and so parts are not easily available, that the wash quality is really poor and they are not really suitable for Indian cooking and anyway given the acute water scarcity in India, how in the world was I planning to operate a dishwasher?? Well…after this long discourse on the absolute unsuitability of dishwashers, my enthusiasm flagged considerably. My husband’s face however brightened.
Ok, so maybe it wasn’t such a great idea after all.
We went back home to hand washed vessels and Sunanda’s tantrums. Then one day, a year later, Sunanda bai fell ill (or so she said). Anyway, she went off on sick leave leaving me with the unappetizing task of washing the bartans. 24 hours later saw me walking into the biggest showroom in South Bombay.
This place was better stocked.There were 2 models in IFB, one each in Seimens, LG, Kenstar, Haier and Kaff. There were different sizes for different quantities of load, different features ( two spray vs. three spray, adjustable racks, hot water wash cycle, drying cycle). It was a bit confusing and considering that they were all fairly steeply priced ( the cheapest was Haier), I wanted to be sure.
We finally bought an IFB Neptune which came with three sprays, a great grey coloured body, adjustable racks( including a removable lower rack), hot water wash and rinse cycles and a drying cycle. The soap and rinse aids have to be bought from the service centre as these are probably not available at your local supermarket. But these are door delivered by the service centre.
And finally a word on its performance. This dishwasher is GREAT. I would unhesitatingly recommend it to everyone. It has various options for washing including a half load and an economy wash. The wash quality is excellent. One does need to remove the leftovers from the dishes before loading the machine but there is a pre wash before the start of the wash cycle which takes care of all the itsy bitsy pieces of leftover food. The entire wash cycle from pre wash to drying lasts about an hour and a half. The dishes at the end of the cycle emerge fabulously clean.
So, if you want to ease up your life( a lot) and don’t mind spending a bit of money and you don’t have a water problem then don’t hesitate…just go and buy yourself a nice dishwasher.
