TSIA2 Practice Test 11

Every working day in Mumbai, India, a network of roughly five thousand lunchbox carriers known as dabbawalas collects home-cooked meals from kitchens across the city and delivers them to offices, often many miles away, in time for lunch. Each tin travels by bicycle, handcart, and commuter train, changing hands several times along the way. The system relies on no computers. Instead, a short code of colors, letters, and numbers painted on each lid tells carriers which neighborhood, building, and floor the box is headed for. In the afternoon, the empty tins make the return trip to the same kitchens. Visitors who study the system often remark on how rarely a lunch goes astray.