Two years again, the Mumbai dabbawala males clad of their white uniforms have been going about their unusual day delivering lunchboxes to the office-goers within the metropolis. When Covid-19 hit Mumbai, their shiny metal stacked dabbas disappeared from the company places of work, cycles have been left to gather mud and rust, and their white uniforms and Gandhi caps saved folded inside their cabinets.
For 40-year-old Sachin Gawde, who resides in Diva, being a dabbawala is what he has been recognized for his whole life. His great-grandfathers have been delivering dabbas since 1952. It’s his id and his supply of livelihood.
Gawde says, “The dabbawala group has helped us immensely by the lockdown. Since we’re well-known within the metropolis, we marketed asking for assist, and other people got here ahead to help us. Certainly one of my clients paid for my daughter’s schooling in the course of the first lockdown, which is a testomony to the connection that we share with our purchasers.”
For Kalyan’s Sharad Extra, the 2020 lockdown made him return to his village close to Nashik to take up farming. Extra says, “Working from residence fully turned our lives the wrong way up. Since January 2022, issues have began wanting higher and have began choosing up tempo.”
He provides, “Nevertheless, individuals are nonetheless reluctant as a result of dabbawalas journey far to ship tiffins. A lot of the dabbawalas are uneducated, so we’re able to work exhausting to make ends meet. I simply need our clients to permit us dabbawalas to feed them meals, which can assist us feed our households as effectively.”

Whereas Dinkar Nigot, one other dabbawala from Vikhroli is sceptical concerning the service getting again to pre-lockdown instances.
He says, “Majority of the dabbawalas are nonetheless unemployed as a result of lots of office-goers have misplaced their jobs, are nonetheless working from residence and solely come to workplace twice per week. Jo kaam kar rahe hai, unko abhi double kaam karna padh raha hai dabbe ki demand ki hisab se.”
The important thing takeaway for these males has been the bond that they share with their clients. Extra says, “Since 1890, when the dabbawala service began, we’ve by no means requested our clients for something. Covid has taught me that our clients deal with us as their household and can stick to us by thick and skinny.”
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