Out of work, Mumbai’s dabbawalas may look for new ways to serve

The city’s iconic lunchbox delivery men, the dabbawalas, were forced out of their 130-year-old occupation by the lockdown. However, with local trains resuming services

The city’s iconic lunchbox delivery men, the dabbawalas, were forced out of their 130-year-old occupation by the lockdown. However, with local trains resuming services and Mumbai gradually returning to the grind, dabbawalas are now planning to do what the city does best — get back to work and adapt to changing times.

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When the lockdown shut down public transport and people started working from home, dabbawalas found themselves without work. Although lockdown restrictions have eased in Maharashtra since June 1, schools and colleges remain shut and only a small percentage of employees may go into offices. “There is no doubt our business will continue to see a slump for a few more months even after lockdown is lifted because work-from-home will continue for a lot of our customers. If dabbawalas are not needed, we can do other kinds of deliveries, like courier and mail deliveries, or e-commerce,” said Subhash Talekar, president of Mumbai’s dabbawala association.

Adapting will be more of a challenge to some. Sixty-five-year-old Yamunatji Ghule, a member of the dabbawala association, said, “I am not as physically fit anymore. I can’t carry all the lunchboxes allotted to me. But I have worked as a dabbawala since 1970, so my colleagues share my work, lift a few of the lunchboxes allotted to me, and say ‘don’t work, just be a part of the group, and we will share your work’,” said Ghule, who returned to his village in Pune district in May.

The average dabbawalla worked approximately 10 hours a day, starting around 9am. Each dabbawala delivered between 15 to 20 lunchboxes, and was paid between Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,500 per lunchbox per month. Their routes were along Western and Central Railway, with 40 to 50 dabbawalas covering each station and the areas around it.

During the first few weeks of the lockdown, when no one could leave Mumbai, most of the 5,000 dabbawalas in the city tore through their savings. When transport was arranged for migrant labourers, some like Ghule left Mumbai for their village homes, mostly in Western Maharashtra, where they have returned to farming. Ghule is among those looking forward to returning to Mumbai.

Back in 1890, the profession of the dabbawala began to ensure white collar workers from the Parsi community had home-cooked meals. The first dabbawalas picked up lunchboxes from people’s homes and brought them to their offices in south Bombay. Since then, Mumbai’s work culture and the lunchbox delivery business has changed. Dabbawalas have added new routes and clients — today they deliver lunch to a range of people, including small businessmen, government employees, as well as school and college students. “These people will always go to work and need their lunch delivered from home once the city restarts properly,” said Talekar.