Dabbawallas on new high,to represent state in R-Day parade

A team of 15 dabbawallas will be part of the parade and will leave Mumbai for rehearsals in Delhi on January 12. “Of course,it’s a big achievement for us. Many of the dabbawallas have never stepped outside Maharashtra; for them to go to Delhi and represent the state is a moment of pride,” says Medge who heads the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charity Trust and Association.

While the dabbawallas have received international fame and honour — they have been mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records and Ripley’s Believe it or not,Harvard Business School is doing a case study on them and they have been invited to Brazil for an exposition — the participation in the parade is different,they say. “For the past five years,there were not many events and the team has been demoralised. This event is the right opportunity for us to boost our morale and work harder,” Medge says.

The dabbawallas are the first ‘service-provider’ to represent the state in the parade — the Dhangar community (sheep hearders) and Kolis have featured earlier. “We had at least five options,including the Paithani saree weavers,but the Dabbawallas were chosen after a presentation was made to the Defence Ministry committee,who thought they presented the flawless service with their Six-Sigma certificate from Forbes,” said director,cultural affairs,Ajay Ambekar.

While presenting a cultural community in a form of tableau with their rich cultural heritage is easier,the state government was faced with a challenge to depict the dabbewalla’s famed management system. “Be it any season,heavy rain,scorching heat or winter,the dabbewallas deliver the tiffin boxes. We have tried to recreate this scene with the local train,the handcarts,cycles and the dabbewallas in their midst,” Ambekar said.

Professor Sunil Nandoskar from the JJ School of Arts created the concept and it was later modelled for the tableau.

There are 5,000 dabbawallas with 800 teams who deliver 2 lakh tiffins daily from various houses across Mumbai to office-goers depending on local trains and cycles. One member delivers 30 tiffin boxes on a 60-kg crate. They are all working partners of the association and earn around Rs 6,000 a month. Only villagers of Pune district who are part of the dabbawallas family clan are enrolled in the business as “outsiders”,even if Maharashtrian,without reference from existing members are not encouraged to join in.  

While the dabbawallas will mingle with other citizens from various states and explore business opportunities,they say replicating the Mumbai system elsewhere is difficult. “Mumbai’s lifeline-local trains and unique geographical structure allow us to function effectively; it’s tough to implement this anywhere else,” says Medge.