Dabbawala Explained

Dabbawala
Synonyms:Tiffin wallah
Type:Manual labour
Activity Sector:Delivery (commerce)

A dabbawala (also spelled dabbawalla or dabbawallah, called tiffin wallah in older sources) is a worker who delivers hot lunches from homes and restaurants to people at work in India, especially in Mumbai. The dabbawalas constitute a lunchbox delivery and return system for workers in Mumbai. The lunchboxes are picked up in the late morning, delivered predominantly using bicycles and railway trains, and returned empty in the afternoon.[1] [2]

Origins

In the late 1800s, an increasing number of migrants were moving to Bombay from different parts of the country, and fast food and canteens were not prevalent. All these people left early in the morning for offices, and often had to go hungry for lunch. They belonged to different communities, and therefore had different types of tastes, which could only be satisfied by their own home-cooked meals. So, in 1890, Mahadeo Havaji Bachche started a lunch delivery service in Bombay with about a hundred men.[3] This proved to be successful, and the service grew from there. In 1930, he informally attempted to unionize the dabbawalas. Later, a charitable trust was registered in 1956 under the name of Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Trust.[4] The commercial arm of this trust was registered in 1968 as Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association.[5]

Etymology

When literally translated, the word "dabbawala" means "one who carries a box". "Dabba" means a box (usually a cylindrical tin or aluminium container) from Persian: دَبّه, while "wala" is an agentive suffix, denoting a doer or holder of the preceding word.[6] An English translation would be "tiffin box delivery man".

Colour-coding system

Lunch boxes are marked in several ways:[7]

  1. Abbreviations for collection points
  2. Colour code for starting station
  3. Number for destination station
  4. Markings for handling dabbawala at destination, building and floor

A colour-coding system identifies the destination and recipient. Each dabbawala is required to contribute a minimum capital in kind, in the form of two bicycles, a wooden crate for the tiffins, white cotton kurta-pyjamas, and the white Gandhi cap (topi). Each month there is a division of the earnings of each unit. Fines are imposed for alcohol, tobacco, being out of uniform, and absenteeism.[8]

A collecting dabbawala, usually on bicycle, collects dabbas either from a worker's home or from the dabba makers. As many of the carriers are of limited literacy (the average literacy of Dabbawallahs is that of 8th grade), the dabbas (boxes) have some sort of distinguishing mark on them, such as a colour or group of symbols.[9] [10] [11] [12]

The dabbawala then takes them to a sorting place, where he and other collecting dabbawalas sort the lunch boxes into groups. The grouped boxes are put in the coaches of trains, with markings to identify the destination of the box (usually there is a designated car for the boxes). The markings include the railway station to unload the boxes and the destination building delivery address. Some modern infrastructure improvements such as the Navi Mumbai Metro are not used in the supply chain, as cabins do not have the capacity for hundreds of tiffins.[13]

At each station, boxes are handed over to a local dabbawala, who delivers them. The empty boxes are collected after lunch or the next day and sent back to the respective houses. The dabbawalas also allow for delivery requests through SMS.[14]

Ethnicity

Most dabbawalas are related to each other, belong to the Varkari[15] sect of Maharashtra,[16] and come from the same small village near Pune. Tiffin distribution is suspended for five days each March as the dabbawalas go home for the annual village festival.[17] [18] [19]

Dabbawalas have traditionally been male, but in recent years a few women have joined the profession.[20] A dabbawala can be either a foreman, mukadam, or a simple delivery man, gaddi. Typically, they begin between the ages of 15 and 20. While they take pride in their freedom and the fact that they work in a network of their relatives, the relatively low compensation provided for their physical exertion makes them discourage their own children from joining the profession.[21]

In a typical day, a dabbawala picks up tiffins every morning and then sorts them once before they are loaded onto the morning train (at approximately 10a.m.). The tiffins are sorted another time in the luggage compartment of the train. At the destination station, the tiffins are loaded into carts and deposited in stacks at the entrances of the various workplaces. Following lunch, the same procedure is carried out in the reverse order with the empty tiffins.

Association

The earliest meetings of the Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association were held in the open air. They took up premises in 1943 and settled the headquarters at Dadar in 1962. Located on the first floor of a building, the premises consist of a large, simply furnished room. A large mirrored painting of Saint Dnyaneshwar with Vithoba adorns one corner. Other portraits adorning the room include those of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and the founder of the association, Mahadeo Havaji Bachche.

The association was reportedly started after a dabbawalla was ill-treated by a customer, resulting in the dabbawallas deciding to form a "united front" while dealing with injustices or difficulties, such as funerals. The association also helps with managing legal issues, including conflicts between mukadams and gaddis. All conflicts are resolved in the presence of 20 mukadams, which are selected every six years.

The charitable Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Trust consists of nine members who are elected every five years. Its main role is to collect funds for dharamshalas.

Economic analysis

Each dabbawala, regardless of role, is paid around 8,000 rupees per month (about US$131 in 2014). Between 175,000 and 200,000 lunch boxes are moved each day by 4,500 to 5,000 dabbawalas. Tiffin-wallahs are self-employed. The union initiation fee is 30,000 rupees, which guarantees a 5,000-rupee monthly income and a job for life. The 150 rupee a month fee provides for delivery six days a week. (2002)[22] [23] [24]

It is frequently claimed[15] that dabbawalas make less than one mistake in every six million deliveries; however, this is only an estimation from Ragunath Medge, the president of the Mumbai Tiffinmen's Association in 1998, and is not from a rigorous study. Medge told Subrata Chakravarty, the lead author of the "Fast Food" article by Forbes where this claim first appeared,[25] that dabbawalas make a mistake "almost never, maybe once every two months" and this statement was extrapolated by Subrata Chakravarty to be a rate of "one mistake in 8 million deliveries."[26] Chakravarty recalled the affair in an interview and said:

The New York Times reported in 2007 that the 125-year-old dabbawala industry continues to grow at a rate of 5–10% per year.[27]

Studies

Various studies have focused on dabbawalas:

Notable events

In popular culture

The 2013 Bollywood film The Lunchbox is based on the dabbawala service.[38]

The , a special episode of the British TV series Top Gear, had the presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May attempting to outdo the dabbawalas in efficiency and accuracy, by delivering the lunches with their cars, rather than by train and bicycle.

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. News: In Pictures: Tiffin time in Mumbai . 2 May 2014 . BBC news . 16 February 2014 . 5 May 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140505210221/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-26128597 . live .
  2. Web site: Das. Mohua. Jun 13, 2021. Mumbai: Now, dabbawalas to cook your lunch and deliver. Mumbai. 2021-06-21. The Times of India. 27 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210627013317/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/now-mumbai-dabbawalas-to-cook-your-lunch-and-deliver/articleshow/83471654.cms. live.
  3. Web site: Bombay Dabbawalas go high-tech . Physorg.com . 15 September 2011 . 26 September 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110926194137/http://www.physorg.com/news70641995.html . live .
  4. Web site: Feeding the city : work and food culture of the Mumbai dabbawalas. Sara. Roncaglia. 1 January 2013. OpenBook Publishers. 2 May 2017. Internet Archive.
  5. Web site: Nair. Supriya. 27 September 2011. The Tiffin History of Mumbai. Livemint. 8 April 2017. 19 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180619140347/https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/zCjPfpkfjnDtIHyjJoSNoK/The-Tiffin-History-of-Mumbai.html. live.
  6. Pathak R.C. (1946, Reprint 2000). The Standard Dictionary of the Hindi Language, Varanasi: Bhargava Book Depot, pp.300,680
  7. Web site: Thakker. Pradip. 11 November 2005. Mumbai's amazing dabbawalas. Rediff News. 8 April 2017. 21 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180621065336/http://specials.rediff.com/money/2005/nov/11spec.htm. live.
  8. Dr. Pawan Agrawal (speaker) . 24 February 2011 . TEDxSSN - Dr. Pawan Agrawal - Mumbai Dabbawalas . YouTube . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/N25inoCea24 . 2021-12-22 . live. 3 May 2017 . TEDx Talks .
  9. Dabbawallas: Delivering Excellence. Meena. Kadri. Works That Work magazine. 2013. 1. 2 May 2017.
  10. Web site: NDMC launches new project to make unemployed women self-reliant. Press Trust of India. 13 July 2014. Business Line. 2 May 2017. 15 August 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230815184744/https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/ndmc-launches-new-project-to-make-unemployed-women-self-reliant/article20817021.ece1. live.
  11. Web site: Taking the story of Mumbai's dabbawalas to IIM Calcutta. 20 July 2012. Business Line. 2 May 2017. 15 August 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230815184753/https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/taking-the-story-of-mumbais-dabbawalas-to-iim-calcutta/article64192951.ece. live.
  12. Web site: Mumbai dabbawalas to share success mantra in Dubai. Press Trust of India. 2 June 2013. Business Line. 2 May 2017. 15 August 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230815184757/https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/mumbai-dabbawalas-to-share-success-mantra-in-dubai/article20620361.ece1. live.
  13. Web site: Ramper. Johnny. Dabbawalas: Preserving Tradition in Modern India. Z.E.N. Foods. 8 April 2017. 18 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180318183607/http://zenfoods.com/dabbawalas-preserving-tradition-in-modern-india/. live.
  14. News: Karishma . Vaswani . 24 July 2006 . India's tiffinwalas fuel economy . BBC News . 2 May 2017 . 13 March 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180313032538/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5210092.stm . live .
  15. Sangle, Subodh (spokesperson) and Gavande, Kiran (supervisor) . 23 July 2014 . Lunchbox Legends: The Dabbawalas of Mumbai at Indian Summer Festival Vancouver . YouTube . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/Z88bIk-9HQc . 2021-12-22 . live. 3 May 2017 . Indian Summer Festival Canada .
  16. Web site: Mumbai's dabbawalas up delivery charges by ₹100. Beena. Parmar. 2 July 2014. Business Line. 2 May 2017. 23 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170923143503/http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/mumbais-dabbawalas-up-delivery-charges-by-100/article6170725.ece. live.
  17. Web site: Dabbawalas to deliver WHO's word. 2 April 2014. Business Line. 2 May 2017. 15 August 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230815184816/https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/dabbawalas-to-deliver-whos-word/article20747759.ece. live.
  18. Web site: Dabawallas . DINODIA Photo Library . 3 May 2017 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20030809134025/http://www.dinodia.com/photo_features/dabawallas.php3 . 9 August 2003 .
  19. News: South Asia - Tiffin time for Charles and Camilla. BBC News. 17 February 2005. 3 May 2017. 19 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180319011126/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4269823.stm. live.
  20. Web site: More lunch box ladies to deliver food cooked with love. 26 November 2013. Business Line. 2 May 2017. 15 August 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230815184759/https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/more-lunch-box-ladies-to-deliver-food-cooked-with-love/article23156001.ece. live.
  21. Quien. Alexandra. 1997. Mumbai's Dabbawalla: Omnipresent Worker and Absent City-Dweller. Economic and Political Weekly. 32. 13. 637–640. 4405220. 0012-9976.
  22. Web site: A Bombay lunchbox. Luke. Harding. 24 June 2002. 2 May 2017. The Guardian. 31 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180731123351/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/jun/24/worlddispatch.india. live.
  23. Web site: 'Dabbawalas' hike delivery charges to meet rising inflation. Press Trust of India. 2 July 2014. Business Line. 2 May 2017. 15 August 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230815185800/https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/dabbawalas-hike-delivery-charges-to-meet-rising-inflation/article20809904.ece. live.
  24. Web site: Upper Crust ::: India's food, wine and style magazine . 3 May 2017 . bot: unknown . https://web.archive.org/web/20021022001518/http://uppercrustindia.com/11crust/eleven/mumbai3.htm . 22 October 2002 .
  25. Chakravarty. Subrata N. 10 August 1998. Fast food. 21 March 2021. Forbes.
  26. Pathak. Gauri Sanjeev. 2010. Delivering the Nation: The Dabbawalas of Mumbai. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies. en. 33. 2. 235–257. 10.1080/00856401.2010.493280. 145340437. 0085-6401. 21 March 2021. 12 February 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230212062645/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00856401.2010.493280. live.
  27. News: Rai. Saritha. 29 May 2007. In India, Grandma Cooks, They Deliver. en-US. The New York Times. 21 March 2021. 0362-4331. 11 March 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210311221219/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/business/worldbusiness/29lunch.html. live.
  28. Web site: Dr. Pawan Agrawal . Kaizer . 2 May 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140409095430/http://www.kaizer.ind.in/Speaker-pawanagarwal.html . 9 April 2014 .
  29. Book: Ravichandran, N. . World class logistics operations : The case of Bombay dabbawallahs . 1 September 2005 . Indian Institute of Management . Ahmedabad . 2 May 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924033601/http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/publications/data/2005-09-01ravichandran.pdf . 24 September 2015 . dead .
  30. Book: Thomke . Stefan H. . Sinha . Mona . The Dabbawala System: On-Time Delivery, Every Time (Case 610-059) . February 2010 . Harvard Business School . Harvard, Ma. . 7 April 2014 . 19 January 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180119032242/http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=38410 . live .
  31. Krishnan . Uma S. . A Cross Cultural Study of the Literacy Practices of the Dabbawalas: Towards a New Understanding of Nonmainstream Literacy and its Impact on Successful Business Practices . PhD dissertation . Kent State University . 2014 . 21 November 2022 . en . 15 August 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230815185804/https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/etd/r/1501/10?clear=10&p10_accession_num=kent1416312472 . live .
  32. News: 5 April 2005. Royal invite for tiffin carriers. en-GB. BBC News. live. 21 March 2021. 27 February 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210227050250/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4408545.stm.
  33. Bondre. Shobha. 2011. Mumbai's Dabbawala. India International Centre Quarterly. 38. 2. 84–96. 41804004. 0376-9771.
  34. Web site: Leahy. Joe. 26 October 2010. MUMBAI'S DABBAWALLAS: High-tech meets low-tech over lunch. limited. live. 21 March 2021. Financial Times. Mumbai. https://web.archive.org/web/20180528090932/https://www.ft.com/content/5f7b7dfc-fd57-11db-8d62-000b5df10621 . 28 May 2018 .
  35. Web site: Most dabbawala tiffin crates carried on the head. 21 March 2011. 2 May 2014. Guinness World Records. 2 May 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140502141431/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-9000/most-dabbawala-tiffin-crates-carried-on-the-head/. live.
  36. Web site: Sheth. Priya. Ganguly. Nivedita. 18 August 2011. Dabbawalas to strike for the first time in 120 years. 8 April 2017. Business Line. en. 23 April 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140423015933/http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/dabbawalas-to-strike-for-the-first-time-in-120-years/article2369850.ece. live.
  37. Web site: Patwa. Sharvari. 11 February 2011. Dabbawallas get another high profile visitor,this time from US. live. 21 March 2021. The Indian Express. en. 25 September 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220925202133/https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/dabbawallas-get-another-high-profile-visitor-this-time-from-us/.
  38. Web site: 1 September 2013. Scott. Feinberg. Telluride: Indian Oscar Hopeful 'The Lunchbox' Delivers Tasty Surprise. 21 March 2021. The Hollywood Reporter. en. 17 April 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210417015434/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/telluride-indian-oscar-hopeful-lunchbox-619066. live.

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