Continuing the family tradition, a group of ten women dabbawalas have been delivering hot lunches to office-goers at their workplaces for the past 20 years.
The group, led by G Malliga, is the third generation of a family that had been distributing lunch boxes from their homes to the office going men. The group mostly caters to the settled Marwari population in Chennai. Per day, it collects and delivers 150 lunch boxes in the areas, including, Anna Nagar, Purasawalkam, Vepery and Choolai.
These women, after collecting the boxes from the homes of office-going people, meet each other at Veper. From there on, they segregate for office locations like Mount Road and Parry’s Corner to distribute the lunch boxes.
“We collect the lunchboxes kept at the gate of homes and residential complexes and deliver it at the offices. We wait for one hour outside the offices, for them to finish their lunch. After collecting the lunch box, it is delivered back to the residence,” told Malliga to Deccan Chronicle.
Previously, her father and grandfather were involved in the same business.
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The office-goers get the benefit of having freshly cooked homemade food at a cost of Rs 400 every month, inclusive of transportation cost. These women commute through two-wheelers and auto-rickshaws to deliver the boxes.
Speaking about the family’s golden rule, which her grandfather always talked about, she said:
“Come rain or storm or scorching heat, you must work hard and ensure that the food reaches the person it is intended for. He also said that the food must reach on time and the person must not go hungry”.
While delivering food, Malliga comes across a plethora of emotions, especially from the wives. “Often when we deliver the empty lunch boxes back, the wives would be eager to know if their husbands liked the food. They maintain cordial relations with us, and are ready to help us in case any of us is going through any problems”.
“Often when we deliver the empty lunch boxes back, the wives would be eager to know if their husbands liked the food. They maintain cordial relations with us, and are ready to help us in case any of us is going through any problems”.
Despite not making much money from the business, the group is dedicated to working as dabbawallas while continuing the family legacy.
