We Indians are very much aware of the basic concept of Mumbai's Dabbawalas. For those who are not aware of this concept, here is an introduction:
Note: If you do not have time to read the entire post, just see the Youtube clip(below) - that summarizes everything!
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Introduction:
The word "dabba" literally means "box", in specific "a box containing a meal" and the suffix "walla" means "the person who carries the box". Colloquially "Dabbawala" is a "lunch box distributing man".
The men in the household leave for work as early as 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning, hence the women in the household prepare the lunch and send them away with Dabbawalas to be delivered to their husband's workplace every day. And this service is unique to Mumbai's suburbs and the concept is existing for more than 100 years now. They manage to deliver tens of thousands of meals to workplaces all over the city with nearly 100% precision.
How does this work?
The service is moderately complex. A network of dabbawalas pick up the boxes from customer's homes and delivers the meal to a local railway station. The boxes are sorted for delivery to different stations in central Mumbai with codes or markings on the dabbas understood only by the dabbawala clan, and then re-sorted and carried to their destinations. After lunch, the empty boxes are delivered back home with a unique blend of teamwork, efficiency and an unparalleled dedication to punctuality.
The dabbawala business is still growing, at a steady rate of 5 to 10 percent a year, even with the sprawling and jam-packed restaurants in the vicinity. Not to forget, Business schools have studied their supply chain methods and presented papers/journals. The dabbawalas were invited to give lectures on how other firms can utilize their model to maximize effectiveness. Their service makes only one mistake per six million deliveries, Holy cow - It is indeed a big successful logistics and business model!!!
They even have a website and an SMS service to increase customer base. Their service was awarded a Six Sigma(for quality) - guess what? With no documentation - isn't it amazing?
So what is new? - SHARE MY DABBA!!
What is "Share my dabba"?
India, a country where there are so many people(especially kids) who stay hungry all through out the day because of not being able to afford food. There are some who gets to eat one square meal a day and there are several others who may not get that either.
But how many of us waste food??? hmm.... more or less everybody, be it in our own household or the lunch box we take to work(Not many I guess) or even at restaurants. So the edible left-over food is being dumped in the garbage bin of every household more or less everyday.
And this is where "Share My Dabba" comes into picture. The concept is simple - "Food is being wasted everyday and there are hungry children to feed and the dabbawalla helps them with the deed".
How exactly are the hungry kids going to benefit from this deed?
Do watch the clip(above) to know further!
It is an incredible idea. Kudos to the person who conceived this idea, kudos to the customer's who never forgets to stick the "share" sticker onto their dabbas, and kudos to the dabbawalas for re-sorting them out, and kudos to the volunteers for distributing them to the hungry kids!
To summarize, here is a quote by Lao Tzu which goes something like this - "Great acts are made up of small deeds", isn't it true?
Image & Video courtesy: Google & Youtube
Note: If you do not have time to read the entire post, just see the Youtube clip(below) - that summarizes everything!
The word "dabba" literally means "box", in specific "a box containing a meal" and the suffix "walla" means "the person who carries the box". Colloquially "Dabbawala" is a "lunch box distributing man".
The men in the household leave for work as early as 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning, hence the women in the household prepare the lunch and send them away with Dabbawalas to be delivered to their husband's workplace every day. And this service is unique to Mumbai's suburbs and the concept is existing for more than 100 years now. They manage to deliver tens of thousands of meals to workplaces all over the city with nearly 100% precision.
How does this work?
The service is moderately complex. A network of dabbawalas pick up the boxes from customer's homes and delivers the meal to a local railway station. The boxes are sorted for delivery to different stations in central Mumbai with codes or markings on the dabbas understood only by the dabbawala clan, and then re-sorted and carried to their destinations. After lunch, the empty boxes are delivered back home with a unique blend of teamwork, efficiency and an unparalleled dedication to punctuality.
The dabbawala business is still growing, at a steady rate of 5 to 10 percent a year, even with the sprawling and jam-packed restaurants in the vicinity. Not to forget, Business schools have studied their supply chain methods and presented papers/journals. The dabbawalas were invited to give lectures on how other firms can utilize their model to maximize effectiveness. Their service makes only one mistake per six million deliveries, Holy cow - It is indeed a big successful logistics and business model!!!
They even have a website and an SMS service to increase customer base. Their service was awarded a Six Sigma(for quality) - guess what? With no documentation - isn't it amazing?
So what is new? - SHARE MY DABBA!!
What is "Share my dabba"?
India, a country where there are so many people(especially kids) who stay hungry all through out the day because of not being able to afford food. There are some who gets to eat one square meal a day and there are several others who may not get that either.
But how many of us waste food??? hmm.... more or less everybody, be it in our own household or the lunch box we take to work(Not many I guess) or even at restaurants. So the edible left-over food is being dumped in the garbage bin of every household more or less everyday.
And this is where "Share My Dabba" comes into picture. The concept is simple - "Food is being wasted everyday and there are hungry children to feed and the dabbawalla helps them with the deed".
Do watch the clip(above) to know further!
It is an incredible idea. Kudos to the person who conceived this idea, kudos to the customer's who never forgets to stick the "share" sticker onto their dabbas, and kudos to the dabbawalas for re-sorting them out, and kudos to the volunteers for distributing them to the hungry kids!
To summarize, here is a quote by Lao Tzu which goes something like this - "Great acts are made up of small deeds", isn't it true?
Image & Video courtesy: Google & Youtube
I saw this video on Facebook, n its amazing what small deed can feed hungry kids. Who ever thought this, salutes to them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Linsy!
DeleteI have read so much habout the dabbawalas in our local newpapers. Its really interesting to find out how this chain of food suppliers work. I had goosebumps when I read thorough the significance of dabbawalas.
ReplyDeleteWasting food culture is also prominent over here. Esp during functions, when people take more than they can eat and conveniently throw away the balance. I call it the "greedy mentality", thinking of themselves. Salute the act of feeding the hungry kids. I have been in situations whereby food was a crisis. Survived on leftovers for few days because didn't know who to ask for help. But that was good experience because I still eat leftovers and am not fussy about food.
I'm surprised that dabbawalas are pretty famous outside India, good to know Nava! They indeed are doing a tremendous job and I hope they continue and spread across different states and even countries.
DeleteI totally agree with you on the grandeur functions where loads and loads of food materials are wasted, no stopping them anyways!
Just like you, I have gotten used to the leftover over a period of time and now they kinda taste better when they are left-overs rather than as a prepared hot meal, how ironic :)
really an informative post pavithra:)
ReplyDeleteThanks Rani!
Deleteclap clap clap !!! excellent post..glad tht u shard it here too, even though it was virla on facebook. Just thought about it yesterday too...who in the world would have had this thought at the very first place.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sona! Indeed, it is a very good idea and a initiative, hope they continue this!
DeleteI saw this all over facebook some time back. It is wonderfully thought and executed. What an awesome act...completely agree with your quote. Australia has a unique concept called Oz Harvest which believes in reducing waste & passing it on to the needy. Do google it up if you can. It happens on a massive scale with a few hundred participating restaurants, supermarkets & individuals & increasing every year. As always, brilliant post my friend!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sonali!
DeleteI just googled "OZ Harvest", Oh my my - it is such a brilliant idea and it is done in such a big way, I'm surprised and happy for you guys!! The wonderful thing is, the big restaurants are also part of this sweet gesture, which is a huge huge plus! Although expecting such a large scale deed in India is a not so pragmatic at this point of time, I hope some day, somebody with resource, manpower and network would do the same even in India!!
I'm very glad you shared your view, Sonali! It is always a pleasure to learn about different countries and relate them to ours!!
Wow! Great initiative and awesome work by the Dabbawalas.. Loved this video and felt so good watching it.. Way to go, dabbawalas.. Thanks for sharing this video Pavithra :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Nilu!
DeleteThanks!
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Hi Isa! Well, I just visited your blog, you have a nice blog!
DeleteBut the problem is, I do not understand German language and apparently your blog is in that language, hence I guess there is no point in following, because I don't understand the language!
Thanks for visiting my space Isa!
Indeed it is such an innovative novel concept and idea. Kudos to the ones implementing it and let it be an example across the country to adopt to feed the crores of under nourished kids especially in the country.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree!! Thanks Kalyan!
DeleteI am always how well the dabbawalas function. I guess none of the states have this facility other than Mumbai. If they have also I dont think not this a big network.
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to see that video, it says video does not exist.
lovely post.
Thanks Latha!
DeleteIt is an old post, may be the youtube video was removed by the owner. I will get it fixed. Thanks!