Mumbai’s lifeline dabbawalas’ existence come under threat:Harvard once called it a masterclass in logistics, Prince Charles himself came to see it

When Mumbai hasn’t even fully woken up, some people in white caps and kurtas reach railway stations on bicycles carrying tall stacks of tiffins. They board trains, cross the city, and then deliver hot home-cooked food to offices on foot or by bicycle. These are Mumbai’s Dabbawalas – a system that Harvard Business School called a masterclass in low-cost logistics and which the then Prince Charles himself came to Mumbai to see in 2003. But today, these very Dabbawalas are fighting for their existence. The dabbawalas system began at the end of the 19th century, when Bombay (now Mumbai) was rapidly expanding during the British Raj. Office-goers needed home-cooked food. According to a BBC World report, in 1890 Mahadeo Bachche organized it systematically with 100 workers. Gradually this system became so precise that without any app or GPS, thousands of tiffins started reaching the correct addresses daily. At their peak, 4,500 dabbawalas delivered more than 50,000 tiffins every day. Then Corona came and everything changed. Offices closed, work from home started, and the need for tiffins suddenly ended. The report quotes Kiran Gavande, secretary of the Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association, as saying, ‘Since the lockdown, many people only go to the office 2-3 days a week. This has had a major impact on the dabbawalas. The number which was 4,500 in 2018 has now reduced to 1,500.’ Even those who remain are not in good condition. Balu Shinde was a dabbawala for 20 years. He used to deliver 15-20 tiffins daily. He earned 20,000 rupees every month. By the end of 2020, only two customers remained. Now he drives an auto. Those who have survived are doing two jobs. The association is now planning shift-based work. But president Ramdas Karwande says, ‘It’s running for now, but we can’t say what will happen in the future.’ Every morning, these people can still be seen on Mumbai’s trains carrying steel tiffins. They keep alive a tradition that was once the identity of this city’s pace, but is now being left behind by that very pace. Swiggy, Zomato, cloud kitchens and inflation have increased the challenges for dabbawalas The dabbawala used to deliver home-cooked food for just 2,000 rupees per month. Now food delivery apps like Swiggy and Zomato are making everything from biryani to burgers available at the touch of a screen. Meanwhile, emerging cloud kitchens have intensified the competition. As a result, the once-dominant dabbawala system is shrinking. Baban Kadam, who has been a dabbawala for 35 years, says, ‘In today’s inflation, the new generation won’t come into this work. Everyone wants a better job or business.’