13-year-old sends relief material to Kerala with Mumbai dabbawalas’ help

Tilak Mehta, who runs a venture called ‘Papers and Parcels’ has so far shipped 1,000 kg of rice and 500 first-aid kits to the flood-hit region with help from Mumbai’s dabbawallas and through word of mouth.

A 13-year-old student, who is also an entrepreneur, has been busy collecting and dispatching relief material to the flood-hit state of Kerala.

With the association of Mumbai dabbawalas, the teenager managed to collect and despatch the relief material. (Bhushan Koyande/HT)

Tilak Mehta, who runs a venture called ‘Papers and Parcels’ has so far shipped 1,000 kg of rice and 500 first-aid kits to the flood-hit region with help from Mumbai’s dabbawallas and through word of mouth.

Mehta started his parcel delivery venture five months ago with an aim to provide an app-based, affordable parcel delivery system. Earlier this month, he tied up with the Mumbai Jevandabbe Vahatuk Sanghatana, the biggest union of the dabbawalas, with 200 dabbawalas, delivering parcels for the company after their daily work. With their association, he managed to collect and despatch the relief material. “We appealed to people to donate rice and contribute for first-aid kits. In less than a week, we collected a good amount and successfully dispatched it to Kerala,” Mehta said.

Each first aid kit prepared by Tilak’s team consists of several Over the Counter (OTC) medicines for the victims. Mehta said sending relief material is just one of the several initiatives that the company has planned. The company also plans to donate 20% of its total earnings in the week to the CM relief fund in Kerala.

Subhash Talekar, spokesperson, Mumbai Jevandabbe Vahatuk Sanghatana said, “We are happy that with the efforts of Mehta and his company and the dabbawalas, we were able to help the flood victims.”