Mumbai’s dabbawalas are gearing up for King Charles’ coronation: How this friendship has blossomed over years

Prince Harry is attending, India’s vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar is going and so is US First Lady Jill Biden. Even Mumbai’s famous dabbawalas are going to be in attendance. What are we talking about? We are talking about the list of attendees at King Charles III’s coronation in Westminster Abbey in London, scheduled for 6 May.

Britain is gearing up for the historic event, which comes with an estimated price tag of £100 million, and it is being ensured that no stone is left unturned for it.

While last-minute preparations continue for the coronation, far away from London, even Mumbai’s dabawalas are putting the final touches to the gifts they wish to give King Charles and his wife Queen Consort Camilla. According to news agency ANI, they have bought Britain’s 74-year-old monarch a Puneri Pagadi and a shawl from the Warkari community.

#WATCH | Maharashtra: Mumbai’s Dabbawalas purchase gifts – Puneri Pagadi & a shawl of the Warkari community – for Britain’s King Charles III, ahead of his coronation ceremony on May 6.

They say that they have been sent invitations by British Consulate, British Embassy. pic.twitter.com/88RlOhxidQ

— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2023

Besides this, they will also distribute sweets at nearby civic hospitals on Saturday to celebrate the day. “We are also planning to distribute sweets at nearby civic hospitals to celebrate the day. He is one of the reasons why our community got recognised across the world. We are thankful to him and will be happy to celebrate his crowning day," said Subhash Talekar, the spokesperson of the Mumbai Dabbawala Association to Mid Day.

We take a look back at the endearing friendship between the famed delivery men of the financial capital of India and the British monarch.

Beginning of a royal friendship

Mumbai’s dabawalas, who are known as the country’s finest delivery system, has a long history with Britain’s royal family. It dates back to 2003 when the then Prince Charles visited India on a 10-day trip.

It is reported that Charles, the then Prince of Wales, had seen a BBC documentary on the dabbawalas and was fascinated by the system the men had developed to serve over 24 million people in the metropolis. Charles was impressed with the punctuality that the dabbawalas possessed within their delivery system, despite the various hardships. It was then that he decided that he would meet the dabbawalas on his next visit to India, and that came in November 2003.

On the last leg of his visit after visiting then President APJ Abdul Kalam and travelling on the Delhi Metro, on 4 November 2003, Charles met hundreds of the dabbawalas at Churchgate in Mumbai and spent around 20 minutes with them, understanding their flawless management system of picking up, sorting and delivering dabbas.

Subhash Talekar, a dabbawala, told Rediff.com that his father had met the then prince. In their interaction, Talekar says that Charles had enquired how they rode their bicycles, how they lift crates full of tiffins and if they had some special code to deliver meals without ever mixing them up.

A royal wedding and breakfast

The friendship between the dabbawalas and King Charles didn’t stop at his Mumbai visit. Two years later in 2005, when the British monarch announced his nuptials with Camilla Parker Bowles, he invited two members of the dabbawala community to attend the wedding in London.

Raghunath Medge, an office bearer with the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association, was one of the two dabbawalas who attended the royal wedding. He said all the travel and other expenses for their London trip were borne by Charles.

Sopankaka Mare, the other dabbawala at the wedding, recalls to Rediff how welcoming the royal family was during the nuptials. “He made us feel we were a part of his family,” said Mare about his 2005 visit to London.

Recalling the same, Medge added that they duo also played an important part in Charles’ wedding. He was quoted as telling The Telegraph, “On Queen Elizabeth II’s request, we scattered rose petals over Charles and Camilla soon after they formally married, as is customary in India.”

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The dabbawalas had also been invited for a special breakfast with Queen Elizabeth II at the time and they said that she too was welcoming and had told them that their gifts of a golden sari and Kolhapuri sandals were the best she had received all wedding.

The dabbawalas also presented Charles’ elder son Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton with special gifts – a Paithani sari, considered an auspicious gift for a Maharashtrian bride, a headgear for Prince William, and a statuette of the Lord Vitthal, the presiding deity of the dabbawalas.

Similarly for Harry’s wedding to Meghan in 2018, they selected traditional Maharashtrian attire comprising a Paithani saree and kurta-pagdi as gifts.

Mourning the Queen

When Queen Elizabeth II died last year in September, the dabbawala community mourned her loss. “We are very sad to hear about the death of Queen Elizabeth II and all dabbawalas pray that her soul rests in peace,” Subhash Talekar, the president of Mumbai Dabbawala Association had said as news about the British monarch’s death broke.

Medge, who had visited the Queen in 2005, added, “We feel like we have lost one of our family members, she showed us so much love and respect and we are just common people.”

Mumbai Dabbawala Association has had a very close relationship with British Royal Family ever since Prince Charles visited India. We're very sad to hear about the death of Queen Elizabeth II & all Dabbawalas pray that her soul rest in peace: Subhash Talekar, Association Chairman pic.twitter.com/z767pNJ01K

— ANI (@ANI) September 9, 2022

And asked what they expect from the new king, they said that they were optimistic about the monarchy under Charles and wished him many years of happiness on the throne.

“All of us Dabbawalas pray for him and to wish him every success in his reign,” Medge was quoted as telling The Telegraph.

With inputs from agencies

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