23 Track 23

Unit 8

Remarkable people

Chapter 2

The Tiffin Men

page 103

Your Questions Answered!

You have questions? We have the answers!

Who are the dabbawallahs of India?

Dabbawallah: from Hindi meaning lunchbox deliveryman. Dabbawallahs are sometimes also called Tiffin men.

It’s lunchtime in Mumbai, India, population: 12 million, and students and businesspeople around the city have to make a choice.

Should they go to a restaurant or eat a hot lunch from home?

Today, many can choose the second option, thanks to the dabbawallahs.

Every day, 5,000 dabbawallahs delivered 200,000 lunches to people all over Mumbai. The dabbawallahs work together.

They pick up a person’s lunch from his or her house (or a restaurant). They put the hot lunch in a special box (called the tiffin). then they bring the lunch to the person’s office or school by lunch time.

The men travel long distances (many kilometers a day) on bicycle, train, and foot to deliver the lunchboxes on time.

Many of the deliverymen are poor. Most cannot read. They use a special system of colors and lines to write a person’s name and address on a lunchbox.

There are many challenges (traffic, bad weather, long distances), but the men are very organized.

On average, for every 6 million lunches they deliver, they make fewer than one mistake!

The dabbawallahs do so well that some teach classes at business schools around the world!