Mumbai: The 'Mumbai Dabbawala International Experience Centre', inaugurated on Thursday in Bandra West, will give visitors a glimpse into a 135-year-old, unique enterprise that delivers fresh, home-cooked lunches to office workers.
The service of delivering meals directly from homes to offices for a small fee started in the late nineteenth century, when Mumbai was growing into a major financial, manufacturing, and trading centre. Mahadev Bachche, a Mumbai resident, formalised the service with 100 dabbawalas.
From Coloured Ribbons to Six Sigma
As most of the delivery men were illiterate, they used a code consisting of coloured cloth ribbons to ensure that the tiffins reached the right destination. As the number of deliveries increased, the code changed to include a colour band, numbers, and the Roman alphabet.
The code works so accurately that the Harvard Business School graded the service with a 'six sigma' rating, noting that the service made only 3.4 mistakes per million deliveries.
The centre is the idea of Shrikant Bharatiya, Member of the Legislative Council, who suggested the project on the 3,000 square feet of space allocated by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to the dabbawala association. Construction started in 2023 on the apartment building that houses the museum on the ground floor.
Gaurav Doke, the interior designer who gave shape to the idea, said that his brief was to showcase a universally unique service. "We wanted a place to display all the awards and recognitions earned by the dabbawala. The service is 130 years old, but there is no museum to tell their story," said Doke.
Blending Tradition with Technology
The centre uses AI technology to tell the story of the ubiquitous Mumbai dabbawala in a white outfit and a Gandhi cap. "Technology has been used to make the centre more contemporary than an old-style display museum," Doke added.
Virtual reality goggles will enable visitors to simulate a walk with the dabbawalas while they hurry to their destinations. An AI software will allow guests to add an image of their faces to a virtual figure of a dabbawala as he makes his rounds. One section displays antique pieces of tiffins and other paraphernalia associated with the service.
Historic Artefacts on Display
A photo wall displays photographs of celebrities such as Prince Charles (now King Charles III) with the dabbawalas. Other interactive features include a game to track your tiffin as it passes hands from one dabbawala to another. The entire experience can take around 25 minutes.
A Struggle to Keep the Service Alive
Ulhas Muke, president of the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charity Trust, the apex association of the trade, said that the number of dabbawalas reached its peak of around 5000 in the pre-COVID days. Their numbers have dwindled to 1500 now. A month's fee for tiffin delivery is between
Rs 1200 and 1500. "Many educated youngsters join us when they are searching for a regular job. They leave subsequently. But we continue to offer jobs for those who are unemployed. You do not need an education qualification to do this job," said Muke.
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The centre will charge a small fee for a tour. "This is because we are poor and while the government has built the centre, we will need funds to maintain it," explained Muke.
Bharatiya said that the centre was exactly as he had visualised. "The Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, was impressed. The idea came when the dabbawalas met me to discuss a housing project for their members. I thought it was injustice that an organisation with a sigma six was working from a decrepit office," said Bhartiya who added that the Rs 7.5 crores spent on the project was drawn from his MLC funds and Fadnavis' funds.
