A day with Dabbawalas

Overview

Dating back to the year 1890 this iconic food delivery system has gained world fame and rightfully so. Mumbai’s dabbawallahs have been delivering home-cooked lunches for 250,000 office-going Mumbaikars across the length and breadth of the city with military-like precision. It all began with a Parsi banker wanting home-cooked food in the office and giving this responsibility to the first tiffin delivery man or Dabbawala. With more people clamouring for the service the demand for Dabba delivery soared. Mahadeo Havaji Bachche saw a business opportunity and started the lunch delivery service in its present team-delivery format with 100 Dabbawalas.

 Why you will love it

What you will experience

The tour brings you in contact with their head chief, to learn how it all began and how it has continued to thrive seamlessly for more than a century without missing a beat. The morning begins with an immersive talk with the Chief of the Dabbawala Association, Mr Arvind Talekar, who shares the intricate details of the amazingly efficient tiffin delivery service which has been in existence since almost 130 years! We then head straight to the Headquarters of the Association, located in Dadar, where YOU will sort each ‘Dabba’ or ‘tiffin’ yourself.

Once the sorting process is over, you will also brave the local trains to reach your destination; in the meantime, you also get to interact with other tiffin men en route! On reaching your particular destination, you will not only deliver the freshly cooked home food but also deliver a bundle of smiles to the recipients.

By 12:30 pm you are done with your delivery and will adjourn for your own lunch at Samrat, a restaurant which serves authentic, vegetarian local cuisine — the delectable Gujarati Thali being the choicest on the menu! Kindly note that the talk with the Dabbawalla chief is only on if there are 10 or more guests.