the Dabbawalas

by Umika Pidaparthy

Somewhere between Spring Break and Finals, I always find myself plagued by an intense craving for home food. The DUC for all its variety (vegetarians like myself will beg to differ) makes anyone, especially freshmen, grateful for what their family cooks.

For most Indians this craving is particularly acute. We take our Indian food very seriously. A little too much or bit too little of any one thing can spoil everything. So imagine if you lived in Mumbai and had to travel to downtown to work every day. Come lunchtime you might find yourself in a fix. There’s always that nearby fast-food restaurant, but it’s a little pricey for your kind of salary and, well, it’s just not food from home. You don’t want to carry your lunch with you and end up with a cold meal. So what do you do?

You use the world-renowned dabbawalas of course!


For those of you in the dark, the dabbawalas are Mumbai’s finest, organized labor-intensive food delivery operation. These men (and now women) clothed in their white cotton kurtas and Gandhi caps have become recognized figures around the city. “Dabba” is a term for a lunch boxes and “wala” implies someone who performs a particular task. These heroes in white pick up food from your home and deliver it to your office. Everyday.

The system was actually introduced during the British rule around 125 years ago for British officers whose delicate palates could not handle the spicy local cuisine. It lived on thanks to the efforts of Raghunath Megde and Gangaram Talekar, the president and secretary respectively of the now famous Mumbai Tiffin Box Supplier's Association. But what has really grabbed the attention of the business world is their successful management style. And you don’t have to be in the B-school to understand it. It’s that simple.

There are three levels of management; the governing body, the team leaders or supervisors who manage 20-25 dabbawalas and the dabbawalas themselves. Each team operates within a specific area of the city. Every day, the dabbawalas pick up lunch boxes from houses and carry them to the railway station using wooden crates, bicycles or by hand. From there, they hand-sort the lunch boxes based on a color code and load them onto trains to Dadar station in Mumbai, the transit point. They then transport them to different areas of the city and deliver the meals to their final destinations at around 12:30pm. The entire process goes into reverse at 2:00pm. A single tiffin box can change hands around 3-4 times in a day.

The current association is 5000-strong and shuttles around 400,000 tiffins across Mumbai every day. Forbes gave them a Sigma Six certification, which means their error rate is one in 6 million deliveries. That’s 99.99 percent accuracy. It’s no wonder they have been invited to give lectures at the top management schools in India. They were even visited by Prince Charles of Wales and invited to his wedding to Camilla Bowles.

Even though most of the carriers are illiterate, they are able to manage quick and efficient delivery because of a special color code system that tells them the origin and destination of the meal. Because of the nature of the work, people from small towns and villages have been able to find employment and provide for their families. Whenever a replacement is needed, the managers approach the hometowns of these dabbawalas to ensure the opportunity continues. Dabbawalas currently earn around Rs5000 ($107) per month and the service can cost between Rs250-Rs500 ($6) per month, depending on the location of the customer.

The dabbawalas have also introduced a service where customers can make orders by text messages or online at mydabbawala.com. On the website, one will notice that the company has embraced the age of social networking and convergence by signing up for Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. They also have slideshows of presentations, online applications, and even a products page where you can order special tiffins or mugs with the dabbawala inscription. Looking to do research on the lives of dabbawalas? They have a page for that too.

You would think that with the recent outcropping of multinational food chains that the dabbawalas might be losing their business. This is most definitely not the case. The New York Times reported in 2007 that the demand for dabbawalas will grow from 5 to 10%. This could be due to the existing customer loyalty, the economic crisis and the counterculture movement of returning to traditional food consumption. Megde, the president, was even invited to a conference in Italy on sustainability and organic food. Clearly, eating home-cooked meals is gaining popularity as a healthier and more environmentally-sustainable alternative to eating out, making the dabbawalas one of the leaders in this movement.

On their website, the dabbawalas note the top 10 reasons for choosing their service. Here are my favorite three:

“1. Homemade food is best for health because health is wealth.
2. Home made food is cheaper.
3. Do you not love your mother or wife and like to eat food made by her?”

Can’t argue with that.

CHAI TIME

By Madhavi Seth

Ice is Nice. But Rice, with Spice, is like Fire. Dahi is Ice.
But nothing tastes better than a big mango Slice.
Chai afterwards is right. It should be Hot. Piping hot.
Be You.
Be Together
Be Me.
With Masala, and Sugar. This needs another spoon.
Maybe Two. Or more. Brittania Biscuits. And Samosas.
With Ketchup. Or Chutney. Now, I am Free. To Breathe.

To See.
To Feast.

Rukmini Kalyanam: A Review

by Shruthi Subramanyam

What is Indian dance? Some might say it is bhangra and others break out a few Bollywood moves. Both of these answers would be correct. However classical dance is an integral part of Indian dance as well though you don’t see much of it at Emory.

On March 16^th I saw a Kuchipudi performance titled Rukmini Kalyanam at the Rialto Theater. Performed by the Academy of Kuchipudi Dance of Atlanta, GA and produced and directed by Sasikala Penumarthi, it was an astounding demonstration of story told through dance.

Kuchipudi is one of eight Indian classical dance forms. It originates in the state of Andhra Pradesh and is best known as a means of storytelling. A Kuchipudi performance features two distinct types of dance – one based primarily on rhythm that illustrates the dancer’s rhythmic mastery, and another that is focused on facial expression.

Kuchipudi is still being taught today in India and has also gotten more popular in the United States via the South Asian Diaspora. Two important individuals in the creation of Kuchipdui are Siddhendra Yogi and Vempati Chinna Satyam. Siddhendra Yogi essentially created the dance form in 1400 AD in Andhra Pradesh and Vempati Chinna Satyam is continuing his work today in the twentieth century. Sasikala Penumarthi is one of Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam’s most renowned pupils, having performed in hundreds of performances around the world. Sasikala Penumarthi currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia and has established the Academy of Kuchipudi Dance. She is currently a faculty member in Emory’s Dance Department as a Teaching Specialist in Kuchipudi Dance. She also teaches as part of the Asian Studies and Religion Departments.

Rukmini Kalyanam depics Rukmini’s wedding. It is taken from one of Hinduism’s most sacred scriptures, the Bhagavatham. The dance drama tells the story of love between Rukmini, a royal princess of the Vidarbha kingdom, and Lord Krishna, an avatar of Lord Vishnu and part of the “Holy Trinity” of Hinduism.  Sasikala dances along with many of her students, all of different levels and ages.

Prior to attending the performance I expected an Indian function similar to those at home – family and friends of the performers scrambling frantically behind stage before the show begins while the audience files slowly and noisily into the auditorium; an organized chaos of sorts. The audience is primarily of Indian-American families and friends of the performers’ family and the general Indian community of the town.

However what I experienced at this performance was different. There were the inevitable Indian families; aunties, and uncles in their saris and kurtas speaking various languages. However I was pleasantly surprised to see the general Atlanta community and student populations well represented. I was impressed to by the fact that the Academy of Kuchipudi Dance had partnered up with Georgia State University.

I enjoyed my evening at the Rialto. It was a great way to partake in my culture and meet other individuals who enjoy doing the same. Although I am not a true rasika in the art of Kuchipudi dance, I was able to draw upon my rudimentary knowledge of the dance form and relate to the techniques the dancers used.

Talk Show with Ravish

...and that's how they do it in Edison, NJ.

Reflections on the Rythms of Gold Poetry Reading at the Carlos Museum

by Samyukta Mullangi

I went to a reading of classical Indian poetry in languages ranging from Sanskrit and Hindi to Urdu, Marwari, Telugu, Tamil and Bengali at the Carlos Museum on March 1, 2010. I was really interested in this reading because I have been curious about Indian poetry and fiction for a long time now, and in the differences between the Indian forms and the English ones. Though I went in with relatively high expectations to start with, the entire evening still blew me away. Professors Salman Rushdie, Laurie Patton, Joyce Flueckiger, Deepika Bahri and Sasikala Penumarthi read from an incredibly wide selection of poetry, the earliest poem being from the second century AD and the most modern one from the nineteenth century. Many of the professors read the poems in both their original languages as well as translations that often paled in comparison. As someone who understands Hindi and Telugu very well, and Urdu to a small extent, I had the pleasure of noting these losses in translation. All of the poems had something to do with jewelry and adornment since the reading launched the Carlos exhibit of South Indian jewelry this semester. The readers all explained the context of the poetry, the style in which they were written, and the unique features of the different forms of poetry before their readings, which really helped in my appreciation of them as a listener. For instance, I was already familiar with the ghazal style of poetry in Urdu, but was unaware that some predominant themes in ghazals are ones of calamity and loss. I also did not know that there were so many poems in Sanskrit and Telugu that were startlingly explicit about sex, desire and lust, even in relation to the gods themselves. Many of these poems were written by devotees who addressed the deities as lovers, which was very, very interesting. Finally, I learnt that in Indian poetry, the text and music are often inseparable, so that much of the poetry was only fully transmitted when sung. The evening ended with a Bharatnatyam classical dance performance by Sasikala Penumarthi, who adorned the gold and gemmed jewelry described by the various poets, and danced to the poetry that had been sung all evening. It was a perfect follow-up to the readings since she really epitomized the art forms hinted at in the poetry. I had a great time.

Note: Samyukta wrote this piece for a class.

The World vs. My World

Culture is a reaction to everday fact.

Really interesting.

ICE Date Auction Pictures

Hey peeps,

Here are some pictures from ICE's Date Auction for Haiti. Thanks to those of you who came out! We had a blast.

1000 Years Ago

MILLENNIUM YEAR OF TANJORE TEMPLE

By Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murhy

 

Exactly a thousand years ago in 1010 AD, there arose a temple with a lofty tower (sikhara) trying to touch the sky in Thanjavur (Tanjore). The creator of this marvel was Rajaraja the Great, the most illustrious ruler of the Chola dynasty.

In his rule of 31 years (985-1016 AD), he made the Cholas a power to reckon with, not only in South India but also in far off South East Asia and Sri Lanka. With the help of his navy, he conquered Maladives and other islands. The Cholas had occupied parts of Kolar, Bangalore, Mysore and Chamarajanagar districts for about a century and built many temples in these places.

Even today villagers refer to them as Chola pratishte (consecrated by Cholas). But ultimately Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana fought against the Cholas and drove them out of Karnataka permanently.

At one time, the whole of South India came under the rule of Rajaraja. A rare honour indeed! Naturally he thought of building a temple which could surpass all the constructions so far undertaken in South India, in keeping with his power and might. Thus he built a massive temple for his god Siva. This is the largest, tallest and most ambitious production of its kind undertaken by Indian builders.

Tallest temple

The most awe-inspiring and fascinating part of this temple is its colossal stone sikhara (tower) which is 190 ft high and hence is considered as the tallest Indian temple. Thus it dominates everything in its vicinity. Its dignity is due to simplicity of its parts, square vertical base, the tall tapering body and the graceful domical finial (Kalasa). The Kalasa itself is an amazing piece of ornament. This monolithic massive kalasa is said to weigh 82 tonnes and it is a wonder as to how this stone kalasa of this heavy weight was carried to a height of 190ft. It is generally believed that this kalasa was raised to 190 ft by dragging it on an inclined plane which had its base at a place called Sarapallam which is about 6 kms from the temple.

Another interesting factor is that lakhs of tonnes of granite blocks which are not available locally were brought from 34 kms away. This itself is a stupendous task. The linga inside the sanctum is a colossal one measuring two tiers of the sanctum. It was originally called Rajarajesvara after the king. Later because of its huge size, it came to be allied Brihadisvara (Big Isvara). Thus its creator has been sidelined.

The sanctum has a circumambulatory (pradakshina) passage, the walls of which have paintings of the Chola period, which show excellent worksmanship and technique.

Temple complex

Brihadisvara temple is a temple complex consisting of many subsiding shrines and mantaps. All these are built in an enclosure measuring 750 ft long and 250 ft wide. Various parts of this temple are sanctums, half mantapa, mantapa, mahaman-tapa and a separate Nandi man-tapa. This Nandi is one of the largest in the country.

When one wonders about the colossal nature of the architecture, it matches well with the thousands of sculptures which adorn every part of this temple including the tower. In fact, it is a rich gallery of Saiva sculptures. You name any form of Siva, one will encounter it here. Siva-Parvathi, Nataraja, Siva killing various demons, Ganesha, Kartikeya, Tripur-antaka, Kalari, Chan-drasekhara etc. are found here.

The highest achievement of the plastic art of the Chola period is revealed by 108 dance poses carved here. Each of these is masterpiece by itself.

The temple of goddess was added years later. Another unique feature is the presence of inscriptions on the stone base which give us a glimpse into the various donations to the temple including food items that were required for the preparation of the prasada. Even the names of the various officers, male and female servants, their remuneration are also furnished. These carved records have survived for one thousand years and give us an authentic picture of the administration of this massive temple.

Thus might and delicacy have harmoniously blended here in this big abode of Siva. Another unique feature here is the presence of the sculpture of king Rajaraja and his queens. He is also seen in the painting here.

Contribution by wives

Rajaraja had seven wives who are known to us through inscriptions. These wives gave full support to their husband king in building this temple and donated various images that adorn the temple. Raja raja's sister Kundavai also donated many images. His Ministers and officers did not lag behind. They too donated images and made gifts.

Thus Rajarajesvara temple, popularly called Brihadisvara temple has been standing at Thanjavur for the past one thousand years and attracting lakhs of Indian and foreign visitors alike.

This is a star attraction for the tourists to Tamil Nadu. On this 1000th year, we salute Rajaraja who gave to us a lofty Siva.

A Momentous Christening

This blog is hereby christened The Ashoka Wheel Online and henceforth shall be a space for discussion of ideas and information pertaining to people of South Asian descent.

YAY!

Please contact Aru Murthy (amurth2@emory.edu) if you would like to post.