Mumbai Mania

Simplicity lies at the heart of innovation. Who would have imagined that a food delivery service started century ago would gain so much popularity that it is considered to be a successful business model at present. It has helped to salvage the traditional habit of eating home-cooked food for lunch in a rapidly globalized city. Yes, I am talking about the Mumbai dabbawallas (tiffin carriers), who are known to be punctual, efficient and well-organized, to such an extent that they can put a high-tech system to shame.

Around 5000 dabbawallas, who come from remote villages in Mumbai, comprise this unique network to delivery approx 2,00,000 lunch boxes from homes to respective offices around the city every day. Everyone who works within this system is treated as an equal regardless of their function, they get paid approx Rs 2000 to Rs 4000 a month. Their punctuality is so remarkable that there is only one mistake in every 16,000,000 deliveries.

The concept of a dabbawala originated when India was under British rule. Many British people who came to the colony did not like the local food, so this dabba service was set up to bring lunch to these people at their workplace straight from their home. This system has still survived, as thousands of corporate houses prefer this service over eating at a crowded cafeteria or carrying lunch early in the morning to work.

How does this system work without any goof ups?
Dabbawallas follow a simple yet complex system. The dabbawallah picks up tiffins from homes or from people who cook meals to order. He then takes the dabbas to a local railway station where he and other dabbawallas sort out the lunch boxes into groups.

The dabbas are then taken by train to respective stations, where they will be handed over to a local dabbawala who delivers them. After lunch the boxes are again collected and delivered back home.

This was the process, but the secret lies in the colored codes marked on each dabba, which tells the dabbawalla where the food came from, which station it will be unloaded and the delivery address of the building. They use cycles, or hand carts to deliver the food.

Its a labour intensive process executed brilliantly, thats why top business schools of India invite dabbawallas to give lectures on their system that is infallible. The dabbawallas even deliver in heavy Mumbai rains or during political strife and the best part, they never go on strike. Now dabbawallas also have a website where people can book for delivery online, if not that, they also take orders through SMS.

To use this service, you need to send an sms with "dabba YourName HomeAddress OfficeAddress" to 3636. On receiving this message, one of the dabbawalas will contact you on your cell phone and your dabba delivery service will start.

To give you an idea of their soaring popularity, Prince Charles had met up with the dabbawallas at Churchgate in 2003, Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic also spent some time with them. Seeing their wide reach, many companies use dabbawallas for promoting their product, movie or any service.

Microsoft did it to promote Vista, Yashraj Films for their movie Tashan, Reliance Power for theri Initial Public Offering (IPO). There is also a Marathi film made on them called, "Mumbaicha Dabbewala" (the dabbawallas of Mumbai) which portrayed their daily life and unique work. They serve as an example for organisations of unity, simplicity and a human touch to keep everyone happy.