Dabbawala Tour

Dabbawala Tour - AHM : 1171

The word "Dabbawala" can be interpreted as "box-carrier" or "lunchpail-man". In Marathi and Hindi, "dabba" means a box (usually a cylindrical aluminum container More specifically, the word dabbawala implies a person in the Indian city of Mumbai who carries and delivers freshly made food from home in lunch boxes to office workers.

The concept of the Dabbawala came into being when a person named Mahadeo Havaji Bachche started the lunch delivery service with about a hundred men. Now, Indian businessmen are the main customers for the dabbawalas, and the service often includes both cooking and delivery.

The guests will be picked up by the Guide from the Hotel and drive to the Churchgate Railway Station where they will see the Dabbawalas disembarking the Dabbas ( Tiffins ) in the wooden cart from the Train.

At Churchgate station the Guest will see how the people stand in the Ticket Counter Q and take their tickets to reach their offices. Now the guests will be escorted towards the platform to board the Local Train for Mahalaxmi Station ( 05th Station – 15 minutes ride ). Local Train are the major means of transport in Mumbai.

The extensive network of Railways has three lines, namely the Western Line, the Central Main Line and the Harbour Line. Being a linear city, Mumbai is totally covered by local train network. This Tour will give you an opportunity to experience the Mumbai Local Train. We travel in Non Aircon First Class Compartment and will be traveling from South to North Mumbai when there is no crowd.

Guests arrive at Mahalaxmi Railway Station which is situated next to Municipal Dhobi Ghats at Mahalakshmi, on the suburb of Mumbai. DABBA WALA TOURS

Most of the Dabba walas get down at Mahalaxmi Station as all the Corporate offices are in this vicinity. Here the Dabbawalas sort out the Tiffin Boxes based on the markings which is done area wise. A brief introduction here with the dabbawalas and their exact arrangements how the Tiffin's are coded and distributed at the right place at the right time. The Tiffins are loaded on the Wooden Crate which carries 150 Tiffins and driven by 3- 4 Dabba walas in different directions for delivery on their bicycle.

The guests will now proceed by walk ( 01 minute ) to the Open Air Laundry locally known as DHOBI GHAT. A unique feature of Mumbai, the dhobi is a traditional laundryman, who will collect household dirty linen, wash it, iron them and deliver to their doorstep for a nominal charge.

The "laundries" are called "ghats": row upon row of concrete wash pens, each fitted with its own flogging stone. The clothes are soaked in sudsy water, thrashed on the flogging stones, then tossed into huge vats of boiling starch and hung out to dry.

Next they are ironed and piled into neat bundles, where almost two hundred dhobis and their families work together in what has always been a hereditary occupation. The Guests will escorted out from the Mahalaxmi Station.

The Car that dropped you at the Churchgate Station will wait at the Dhobi Ghat. It will transfer you back to the hotel.