Mumbai amongst other things is home to the illustrious dabbawalas. They may not be a educated lot but they can make deliveries with surgical precision and timing. Even when the annual turnover for the dabbawalas as a whole is minuscule in comparison to other multinational companies, Forbes magazine found its consistency to be that of six sigma standards around 6 million deliveries with almost no errors.
India is a very diverse country in terms of a 100 different things and the same is true also for food. These days most Indians seek variety in their daily food intake. Indianized Chinese, Punjabi dishes, indianized western food products are greatly liked and consumed in colossal quantities. The working class populace don’t want to take the effort in getting their food transported over a distance just to enjoy these delicacies. Most companies or business locations offer a wide variety of food products. Hence the dabawala stands no chance against the changing Indian attitude towards food.
Another reason for the decline in customers for the dabbawalas would be their income. Being a dabbawala is no easy task. It involves transporting heavy racks of dabbas over long distances under extremely crowded conditions. After all this effort all they get is a measly 250 rupees per day ( 5 ½ $ approx). with that kind of money and going by the current inflation levels it becomes very difficult to survive in a mega city like Mumbai. Many dabbawalas are gradually moving to greener pastures mostly smaller cities in search of a better livelihood. Mumbai is increasingly becoming a difficult city to live in. real-estate prices are exaggerated and the lower middle class is finding it difficult to maintain a roof within the city limits. The dabbawalas are also feeling this pressure however they cannot increase their billing rates as this could kill the already depleting customer base.
The whole reason for me writing this blog was thanks to the remarkable conversation I had with this cab driver called Shankar. I was surprised to know that before becoming a cab driver Shankar used to be a dabbawala. Just like his father before him he worked as a dabbawala on the streets of Mumbai. Shankar told me that life as a dabbawala was very hectic and tiring. However most of his co-workers were from the same village and he used to enjoy spending time with them. Shankar finally gave up being a dabbawala for obvious reasons and with the help of his father purchased a car on loan. He now rides the streets of pune and is striving to make a living on his own terms.
Any enterprise big or small will have ups and downs. I feel the only way we can survive and prosper in today’s world is by diversification. Do not lay all your eggs in the same basket. And don’t get too emotional about your product since you might have to change it according to circumstances. I sincerely hope that the dabbawalas realize this before it’s too late.
Regard's
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