The dabbawalas of Mumbai

Sat, 14 Apr 2001 01:00:11 +0000

Late every morning at Mumbai, in India, rows and rows of neatly stacked dabbas (boxes) with weird markings on the top are trundled across busy office buildings. At fifteen to one, a cloth capped man delivers one of these cylindrical boxes on my table in the Fort area. At once I open the case and find the lunch my mother had packed. Hot lunch delivered at the doorstep.

Is this the same food my mother packed for me? Or was it packed by someone’s wife for her husband working in the Mumbai docks? Could the dabbawala have made a mistake? I immediately call home to check. No, it’s the same four idlis and chutney. What is incredible is that all the boxes are identical and yet each one gets to the right person in time for lunch! How on earth the

Indian Food on Pitara Kids Network

The dabbawalas of Mumbai