Dabbawala
A Dabbawala, sometimes spelled Dabbawalla or Dabbawallah, is a person in Mumbai (Bombay), India, whose job is carrying lunch boxes to office workers. The word "Dabbawala" is literally translated as "one who carries a box"; "Dabba" means a box (usually an aluminium container), while "wala" means "carrier." Though the profession seems to be simple, it is actually a highly specialized trade that is integral to Mumbai's culture.
Mumbai is a densely populated city with a huge flow of traffic. Because of this, lengthy commutes to workplaces are common, with many workers traveling by train. Instead of going home for lunch or paying for a meal in a café, many office workers have a meal sent from home. The meal is cooked in the morning and sent in lunch boxes carried by dabbawalas, who have a complex association and hierarchy across the city. A collecting dabbawala collects, sorts, and bundles the lunch boxes into groups. The grouped boxes are put in the coaches of trains, with markings to identify the destination of the box. The markings include the rail station to unload the boxes and the building address where the box has to be delivered. At each station, boxes handed over to a local dabbawala, who delivers them. The emptied boxes, after lunch, are again collected and sent back to the respective houses. More than 100,000 lunches get moved every day by about 4,000 dabbawallas, all with an extremely small nominal fee and with utmost punctuality.
Forbes magazine has given a Six Sigma rating for the precision. The service is uninterrupted even on the days of extreme weather, such as Mumbai's characteristic monsoons. The local dabbawalas at the receiving and the sending ends are known to the customers personally, so that there is no question of lack of trust. Also, they are well accustomed to the local areas they cater to, which makes them access any destination with ease. Occasionally, people communicate between home and work by putting messages on chits inside the boxes. Of course, this was before the telecommunications revolution.
The main reason for their popularity is the Indian people's aversion to fast food joints and love of home made food. It is estimated that the Dabbawalas cater to 175,000 customers per day. Most of the dabbawalas are illiterate. Some of them have delivered lectures in top B-schools of India. BBC has produced a documentary on Dabbaawalas, and Prince Charles, during his visit to India, made a point to visit them (he had to fit in with their schedule, since their timing was too precise to permit any flexibility). Dabbawalas have been practising this art for more than a century.
Tiffin is a word for a light lunch, and sometimes for the box it is carried in. Dabbawalas are sometimes called tiffin-wallas.
Sources
- Karkaria, Bachi. "The Dabba Connection." [1]