# Dabbawalas \[Indian lunch delivery\]- how do they do it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 28, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555 "2014-02-28T23:15:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/81 "2014-03-11T12:51:10Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I have no problem wrapping my head around exactly how different India is from the US - I watch enough movies, documentaries and participate in enough online conversations with people both from India and who frequently visit India. Aah - as a person of Indian origin, I find that mildly amusing. I hear the same argument back home in India where people claim that they understand how the US is based on the movies (hollywood), documentaries and the Americans they meet touring India. Reality is far different though - as many Indians in the US will tell you. > [@aruvqan](#): > > Even with a couple hundred years of both Brit and Portugese culture overlain on India it is a very thin veneer. I reject the idea that Brit and Portuguese culture are somehow superior or more time “conscious”. Pre-European(Brits, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish…)and Pre-Muslim invasion of India, Indians had many great large projects organized and completed - like the great temples, universities, …Oh - and they even had enough time to write a celebrated book on sex (the kamasutra), did math, invented the decimal number system. Indian culture or accomplishments are no less than European at the least. > [@aruvqan](#): > > food as a more personal item than we treat it in the US …] That’s a broad generalization. Approximately 33% of India falls below the international poverty line - for these folks, food is whatever is available. This is the same as the US where the poorer folks typically get a lot of food from neighborhood stores/gas stations. The other big factor in food is the transportation system. People have been consuming locally grown food because of transportation limitations and India is a tropical country that has different grains / vegetables / fruits that grow in different places - so entire cuisines have evolved based on local conditions. And typical cities in India are 500 years or more old so the cuisines have more nuances to them. In big cities in India - food is less of a personal item because of the choices available - in smaller cities less so. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/82 "2014-03-11T13:00:33Z")
Yes - a truly interesting thread. On the point about the Indian culture of \*adding \*labour, rather than \*reducing \*it - I had a friend in the 80s who was a production engineer in a car assembly plant in Birmingham (UK). The factory sold the assembly line for a discontinued model to an Indian company, and he went with it to supervise the installation. As you might imagine, a lot of his previous work had been related to reducing the labour input on assembly lines, but in India, he was required to do the exact opposite. Apparently the Indian government was subsidising the project on the grounds that it would provide employment for the maximum number of people. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/83 "2014-03-11T13:05:59Z")
In all fairness, if it was a Rover it could probably stand to have a bit more time spent putting it together. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/84 "2014-03-11T13:07:01Z")
The BBC is currently running a documentary about Bombay’s railways. - [Bombay Railway - 1. Pressures - BBC iPlayer](http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b007t30p/Bombay_Railway_Pressures/) - if you can get it. > [@](#): > > Documentary about Bombay’s vast suburban rail network, which serves six-and-a-half million commuters every day. As Bombay’s population swells by tens of thousands each week, the railway and the people whose lives revolve around it struggle to cope with the pressure and the peaktime ‘super-dense crush load’. From the train driver to the illegal hawker and the homeless shoe-shine boy, each has a story to tell about this remarkable railway system, often described as the lifeline of India. (R) In one episode a driver describes the procedure when someone gets killed on the tracks (a frequent occurrence). They stop the train, get the body off the line, and then carry on and give a note to someone at the next station. No drama, no fuss. Frequently the body is never identified. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/85 "2014-03-11T13:08:21Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > In all fairness, if it was a Rover it could probably stand to have a bit more time spent putting it together. 🙂 From memory, I think it was the Austin Maxi. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/86 "2014-03-11T13:12:55Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Yes - a truly interesting thread. > > On the point about the Indian culture of \*adding \*labour, rather than \*reducing \*it - I had a friend in the 80s … Yeah, the 80s was a different time. The American car makers back then (even today?) were trying to catch up with the Japanese car maker’s reliability. Read about [NUMMI](http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/403/transcript) From the link above - “_One of the expressions was, you can buy anything you want in the GM plant in Fremont. If you want sex, if you want drugs, if you want alcohol, it’s there. During breaks, during lunch time, if you want to gamble illegally-- any illegal activity was available for the asking within that plant_.” Unions and government bodies ruled - India was no different in the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/87 "2014-03-11T14:04:31Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > As you might imagine, a lot of his previous work had been related to reducing the labour input on assembly lines, but in India, he was required to do the exact opposite. Apparently the Indian government was subsidising the project on the grounds that it would provide employment for the maximum number of people. I am fascinated by the implications of this upon the economy. The idea in the US (as I understand it) is to make things so cheap that even the poor will be able to afford them. If I’m following you all about India, they don’t worry about the fact that increasing the labor will increase the price, because if everyone is employed, it will be okay. Two extremely different approaches to solving the same problem. Anyone want to spin off a new thread about this? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/88 "2014-03-11T15:26:51Z")
I have a friend who owns an independent flower shop in Toronto. The system for independents for distribution of flowers is really not all that different; basically, she loads them into a truck, and her truck guy meets a bunch of other trucks guys in a few parking lots and they exchange deliveries depending on who’s going where, and somehow it works. I’m a quality management systems auditor and to hear her explain this there’s just no way it should work. What if one of the truck guys is sick and so nobody covers his territory? What if one store has substantially more business than another? What if a delivery is slightly outside their usual coverage area? I’ve asked her about this several times and the answer is basically “it just always works.” And it does. Beats the hell out of me. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/89 "2014-03-11T15:48:33Z")
I’ve seen UPS trucks parked in a lot somewhere, apparently exchanging packages for delivery. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/90 "2014-03-11T15:52:13Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > BTW, I knew vaguely of this system but I had the wrong idea - I though food was being delivered by local restaurants (also, is “tiffin wallah” the same thing?) Not sure if this was answered, but…yes. “Dabba” basically means “container” or “box.” Dabbawallah would most literally be translated as “container fellow.” “Tiffin” (British origin, I think, actually) can be slang for lunch but can also refer to a lunch box (container) itself. “Wallah” just means “guy” and it’s used for everything (not necessarily just someone who delivers something). The water guy could be the “water wallah,” for example. (Actually, the pani wallah, I suppose.) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/91 "2014-03-11T16:12:25Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I have a friend who owns an independent flower shop in Toronto. The system for independents for distribution of flowers is really not all that different; basically, she loads them into a truck, and her truck guy meets a bunch of other trucks guys in a few parking lots and they exchange deliveries depending on who’s going where, and somehow it works. > > I’m a quality management systems auditor and to hear her explain this there’s just no way it should work. What if one of the truck guys is sick and so nobody covers his territory? What if one store has substantially more business than another? What if a delivery is slightly outside their usual coverage area? I’ve asked her about this several times and the answer is basically “it just always works.” And it does. Beats the hell out of me. I have been in transport and logistics all my working life and I can see a way that this might work. First is for all the truck operators to agree on a fixed price. A single operator would have an agreed area and it’s up to him to get as much business as he can within it. It is possible that areas might well be bought and sold. Some might be spread out and not so profitable, and some more compact. During the morning he makes his collections, and then meets up with all the others at lunchtime. Over lunch everyone unloads and reloads with all the deliveries in their own area. Flowers are light, so it’s easily done by hand in a short time. Simple paperwork can go with each box. The guy who does the collection will probably get a bigger share of the total than the guy who delivers because collections have to be recruited to the system and nurtured, and delivery guy may well get tips. Each month, payment is collected from the shops, all the paper slips are added up, and the total divided up. As it happens I spent my last few years working for a pallet distribution network. In essence they work in exactly the same way, although they need a central warehouse, to transfer the pallets. All collections and deliveries (and billing) being done by the independent members. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/92 "2014-03-11T16:14:42Z")
We’re two pages in, so I doubt this is necessary, but [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dabba.jpg) is a photo from Wikipedia of a classic tiffin set. These are uninsulated stainless steel; I wonder if people now use plastic ones. (Although given the concerns about BPA and other chemicals, stainless steel is probably safer, and won’t stain.) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/93 "2014-03-11T16:53:09Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > “Tiffin” (British origin, I think, actually)… [Apparently so](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiffin) - although it originated among Britons in India, so you could say it’s of Indian origin I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/94 "2014-03-11T16:55:27Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > From memory, I think it was the Austin Maxi. Sounds unlikely. India in the 80s had only two or three car models, none of them similar to the Maxi. Could have been a money grubbing project (for politicians) with no outcome though. That’s the sort of thing that happened often, with the focus on employment over efficiency. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/95 "2014-03-11T16:57:08Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > I am fascinated by the implications of this upon the economy. The idea in the US (as I understand it) is to make things so cheap that even the poor will be able to afford them. If I’m following you all about India, they don’t worry about the fact that increasing the labor will increase the price, because if everyone is employed, it will be okay. Two extremely different approaches to solving the same problem. Anyone want to spin off a new thread about this? The implications of the Indian(really the Soviet/socialist) approach for the economy were disastrous, and it was largely dropped in 1991. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/96 "2014-03-11T17:14:49Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > Sounds unlikely. India in the 80s had only two or three car models, none of them similar to the Maxi. Could have been a money grubbing project (for politicians) with no outcome though. That’s the sort of thing that happened often, with the focus on employment over efficiency. I had a vague memory of Mahindra buying some old Land Rover Defender tooling in the 80s, but it looks like it _was_ [a Rover](http://www.roversd1cars.talktalk.net/HTML%20Files/India.html) - the [SD1](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_SD1). That was the last Rover car to be built at Solihull so it makes perfect sense, too. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/97 "2014-03-11T17:31:06Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I had a vague memory of Mahindra buying some old Land Rover Defender tooling in the 80s, but it looks like it _was_ [a Rover](http://www.roversd1cars.talktalk.net/HTML%20Files/India.html) - the [SD1](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_SD1). That was the last Rover car to be built at Solihull so it makes perfect sense, too. Wikipedia indicates that must have been it. And it was manufactured for only three years(which is really short by Indian standards at the time) and performed abysmally. That explains why I don’t know of it. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/98 "2014-03-11T22:41:58Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > We’re two pages in, so I doubt this is necessary, but [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dabba.jpg) is a photo from Wikipedia of a classic tiffin set. These are uninsulated stainless steel; I wonder if people now use plastic ones. (Although given the concerns about BPA and other chemicals, stainless steel is probably safer, and won’t stain.) That is a beautiful thing. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/99 "2014-03-12T00:18:56Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > That is a beautiful thing. It makes me hungry for some Indian Chicken Curry. With veggies. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/100 "2014-03-12T02:22:13Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > It makes me hungry for some Indian Chicken Curry. With veggies. Many of those dabbas will not have any Chicken curry - since people shy away from sending meats in un-refrigerated containers - and India is a tropical country that gets hot. Moreover “the Indian Chicken Curry” Americans are used to is not the way the majority of Indians make Chicken curry or Chicken dishes. Its made very differently in different states of India. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555.md?page=6)