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The Dabbawala of Mumbai is a 118 year-old organization of men (walas) who pick up lunch boxes (dabbas or tiffins) from the homes of Mumbai’s office workers each working day of the week and deliver them to their workplaces; then after lunch they pick up the empty dabbas and carry them back to the homes of the customers.
Those who are not familiar with the Dabbawala of Mumbai may be inclined to wonder: ‘What’s the big deal? What’s so special about picking up and delivering lunch boxes?’ If that’s the case, consider the following: There are approximately 5000 illiterate and semi-literate men (plus four women) in the organization; they deal with close to 200,000 tiffins daily; they received ISO 9001 accreditation in Year 2000; and they make only 1 error in 16 million transactions, thus earning Six Sigma certification from Forbes Magazine in 1998. Masters of supply chain management; they have also been the subject of case studies in management schools worldwide.
I had the privilege of spending the day with the unique group of men on 19 June (2008). My mission for the day was to photograph the dabbawalas in action through every step of the delivery and pickup process. The photos will be featured in a book authored by Dr. Pawan Agrawal, CEO, Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charitable Trust that’s in the final stages of being published. The book is based on the thesis that earned Dr. Agrawal his doctorate.
My day started in the office of the group that services the district of Andheri (E), a suburb of Mumbai, where I met
Mr. Raghunath D. Medge, the president of the organization. Mr. Medge in a kindly 64 year old gentleman; he joined the Dabbawala organization as a trouper in 1966, and only stopped the physical work 4 years ago. I also met
Ahilum Adhav, the dabbawala who I would follow throughout the day. After the niceties and a few group photos, the day began, with me
following Ahilum in the first phase of his day in a car that the organization provided. The first phase was
picking up dabbas from the customers’ homes and transporting them to the train. The luxury of a car ended at the Ville Parle railway station, where we met dozens of others on the platform; the
first phase of sorting was in full swing.
Sorting is carried out four times during the process: at the home train station; at the destination station (downtown); again at the destination station on the return trip; and again at the home station. The sorting finished within minutes of the
train arrival and then it was a
mad dash to get onboard. The dabbas at this point were in
head-racks that contain about twenty dabbas. Once on the train we encountered dabbawalas from stations beyond Ville Parle on the railway line. Others hopped on at all stations along the route, while some jumped off with their cargos. It’s a hectic time at the stations as the train only stops for about twenty seconds. The dabbawalas have to compete for space with regular commuters and street vendors carrying their merchandise which could be anything from balloons to
candy floss.
Our destination was Church Gate Station in the downtown business district of Fort, which is also the end of the line. Here I met a
72 year man who has been a dabbawala all his working life. He was actively engaged in the second phase of
sorting along with about 75 of his companions. This was carried out on the sidewalk in front of the
Indian Railways Head Office directly across from Church Gate Station. Incidentally, each of the tiffins is marked with a unique
code consisting of numbers and letters. The dabbawalas decipher the home address and the workplace of the customer from the code.
With the downtown sorting complete, the tiffins were loaded onto
push carts or bicycles for delivery to the customers in the offices of Fort. My guy installed all of his tiffins onto hooks on a bicycle, which was so loaded that there wasn’t enough room for him to get on and peddle. He therefore had to push the bike. I ran along behind him as he navigated through the busy thoroughfares. I almost got run over by a car at one point. Luckily the driver had good brakes; his horn also worked well, but I couldn’t understand the words that he yelled out the car window as he passed! Judging from the expression on his face, I don’t think he was wishing me a pleasant day.
Once safely across the main thoroughfares, we navigated the back streets. He’d
park his cycle outside a building and run up three or four flights of stairs and
drop off his cargo. I followed him up and down several flights of stairs until I was exhausted. After a few ups and downs, I bowed out by saying, “I’ll keep an eye on the bike!” Once all of his tiffins were delivered, Ahilum and some of his companions sat down on the sidewalk and
consumed their own lunches. I chose a nearby restaurant, where besides consuming a litre of mineral water in about three gulps, I rested my weary bones; the meal was the least important of the restaurant visit.
The dabbawalas are committed to delivering the tiffins to their customers right on time for lunch at between 12:30 and 13:00 hrs. The return trip – a mirror image of the forward trip – started after a break of an hour, but with no real deadline to meet; this phase was much more relaxed. My new dabbawala friends even engaged in
a little horseplay during phases of the return trip;
one
fellow even fell asleep on the train. The day ended at about 16:00 hrs with the delivery of the last tiffin back to
the home of the customer. What a day!
The Dabbawala of Mumbai has a website: www.mydabbawala.com, where one can learn a lot more about the organization and view photos of the Prince of Wales with the dabbawalas during his 2003 visit. Sir Richard Branson also spent a day with the dabbawalas in Year 2005.
Anyone who would like to obtain an in-depth study of the dabbawala may want to reserve a copy of ‘Dabbawala Masters of Supply Chain Management,’ which is the title of the book authored by their CEO. Just send an email to info@lbassociates.com under the subject line of Dabbawala Book.
Oh! Anyone who would like to spend a day with the Dabbawala of Mumbai, similar to the one just described, can learn how to avail of the opportunity on the dabbawala website.
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