Hundreds pledge help, donate cycles to get Mumbai’s dabbawalas back to work

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Within a few hours after the plight of the dabawalla came to light and their appeal to the public to donate cycles, good samaritans on the internet instantly responded with help.

Manish Mundra, who has produced films like ‘Masaan’ and ‘Newton’, pledged 100 cycles for the dabbawalas after reading the story.

“Anybody in Mumbai can help me negotiate for 100 cycles for Mumbai Dabbawala association. They need Atlas double bar cycle for sturdiness. I am donating 100 cycles. Anybody else wanna donate or contribute for more ?’, he tweeted. Mundra’s appeal got a good response with nearly a 100 people volunteering to help the community.

“Please count me in for 10 bicycles,” stated a Twitter user.

Subhash Talekar, president, Mumbai Dabbawala Association said he was flooded with phone calls. “So many people have come forward to help our dabbawalas. The community is really happy and is looking forward to start work now. Thanks to this, thousands of dabbawalas will now get help. We are all eager to start work soon and are now hoping to get permissions to ply on the trains too,” he added.

On Saturday, Mumbai Dabbawala Association appealed to people to donate cycles to them as they could not afford to pay the maintenance costs of their rusted cycles which have been lying outside the stations for six months now. The association has been demanding the central government to start regular local trains or allow dabbawalas into the essential services category. They submitted a written request to that effect on Saturday.

There are nearly 5,000 dabbawalas working in the city who deliver meals to people on a daily basis. Known for their timely and accurate food deliveries, Mumbai’s dabbawalas have been used as a case study in several management institutes.

In 2003, when Prince Charles met a few members of the community, he lauded their work. Ever since, the dabbawalas have always been in the limelight. With the growing uncertainty around the nature of work and the utility of tiffins in future, the community is now clueless about what the future holds.