What is Dabbawala?
A dabbawala (one who carries the box), sometimes spelled dabbawalla , tiffinwalla , tiffinwalla or dabbawallah, is a person in the Indian city of Mumbai whose job is to carry and deliver freshly made food from home in lunch boxes to office workers. Tiffin is an old-fashioned English word for a lunch, and sometimes for the box it is carried in. Dabbawalas are sometimes called tiffin-wallas.
Though the work sounds simple, it is actually a highly specialized trade that is over a century old and which has become integral to Mumbai’s culture.
The Dabbawala originated when a person started the lunch delivery service with about 40 men in 1890 during the time India was ruled by British. Nowadays, Indian businessmen are the main customers for the dabbawalas, and the service includes delivery of food prepared at the customer’s home to customer’s office.