January 10, 2015
The Mumbai Dabbawala
I'd rather play a board game with an impish five year oldThan go to Board Room Meetings and greet folks who trade in goldA little kid won't mince her words and say what's on her mindUnlike the men in tailored suits with whom I've wined and dined They use their corporate jargon to launch their next campaignWith clichéd buzzword phrases their mantra they'll explainThey swirl around in swivel chairs and talk of strategiesSophisticated gibberish - there 'lies' their expertise While on their working lunches they try to sound profoundThey throw in words like six-sigma while they muck aroundThey talk of multi-tasking and think outside the boxWhile climbing up the greasy pole their best friends they'll outfox They leverage their assets and gobbledygook speakTalk techno mumbo-jumbo to add to their mystiqueThey love to paradigm shift as well as circle backTalk about downsizing but won't use words like sack They spout some empty rhetoric deployed with Ninja skillLike deluded Sancho Panzas they'll encounter their windmillWith pseudo words and acronyms and thoughtless vapid proseThey twist themselves in verbal knots with muddled metaphors At times I feel these sycophants could learn a thing or twoFrom the humble dabbawala whom it's hard to live up toEvery day in Mumbai, 5000 men in whiteTransport lunches all around and always get it right Unlike the Saville Rowe clothed men who bootlick every bossAnd praise the naked emperor adorned in velvet glossThey don't guerrilla market, drill-down or blue sky think Don't talk of bleeding edges, synergies or data link In 16 mill transactions, their error rate is 1I'd say that's quite impressive - a job for sure well done200,000 lunches are transported each dayStifling heat or drenching rain - they reach with no delay They pick up meals from workers homes and colour code each boxA system that has worked without pretentious boardroom talksOn local trains or cycles or crates upon their headThis team of men deliver where elitists fear to tread This semi-literate workforce is simple to the coreWork in a relay system while they move from door to doorDevoid of verbal flatulence and cryptic dialectThese 'salt of the earth' people have our well-deserved respect
Anita Britto Archives:
Thank you so much for your appreciative and encouraging comments.Made me very happy to read them.
Wah re way! My sweet bhaanji , you have done it again.Oh my goodness! From where to where! You started from Pope Francis , Mother Theresa, then on to Obama , Amithab,and many more , and now to the ordinary dabbawala.You have managed to touch so many hearts through your beautiful and meaningful poems written straight from your heart Anita girl. Rightly put , nobody gives a second thought to the ordinary dubbawala. But an extra ordinary girl like you has decided to write and make people aware of how important a dabbawala is to the common man , and how easily he is ignored and taken for granted.Yes, their disciplined, and organised method of delivering the dabba on the dot is truly commendable .Three cheers to the dabbawala and to our writer Anita Britto for this great workGod bless you Anita my dearest bhaanji!
Thank you Anita, for pragmatically bringing out the subtle difference in the functioning of the corporate world vs the humble Dabbawala who has a strategy in place and is more competent than any corporate. Every poem of yous has a fine message for readers of all ages.Thank you for doing so much for the benefit of others
The Mumbai Dabbawala 'came up' with the most error proof and advanced colour coding system for 'pick up and deliver' the lunch boxes to the respective individuals even much before IBM came up with a coding system for materials management (inventory), accounting, payment system etc. (Remember the ancient huge IBM machines and the punch code verifier/collator etc. system)out dated now. But the Mumbai Dabbawala's coding system is still alive and working well. And they don't have computer engineering degrees etc. Great article Madam Britto from Auckland, New Zealand
Your Poem dedicated to Dabbawala is really fine.They will be very happy aboutit.One Thing is sure.They are doing their duty well in time and faithfully.Many People were fascinated from their work .Many earn their daily bread with it.and working People get home made Food when they work thanks to dabbawalas.Provide us further with more articles.
nicely written. If I were a dabbawala I would be smiling and thanking you. If I were a non-technical management type, I would want wine and dine you to keep you on my side. If I were your family, I would say you make us proud. Keep up the good work.
Great Work Madam,Loved the Movie quiz one equally.Keep writing, We want more.
A Fantastic tribute to our great Mumbai Dabbawalas . Thanks Anita for yet another epic poem to your Gallery !
The 'Mumbai Dabbawalas' indeed add a new dimension to the hustle and bustle of our great Metro City. Their efforts have been a case study for many of the Western Countries ! To encapsulate their efforts in a poem could only have been done by our great Anita Madam !Kudos!
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