dabbawalas

Diwali

Palghar

Less than a year after the city’sbegan a ‘Roti Bank’ to gather unconsumed food from weddings, parties and other social events and quickly deliver it to the needy, the community has launched a ‘Kapda Bank’ to help clothe the city’s poor and brighten up theirThe dabbawalas kicked off this initiative 10 days ago, gathering clothes from their clients all over Mumbai. So far, 2,500 sets of clothes have been collected and distributed to the needy all over the city, including people living in the tribal areas of, Thane.Subhash Talekar, spokesperson, Mumbai Jevandabbe Vahatuk Sanghatana, the biggest union of the community in the city, said that while the festive season brought cheer to many, it was important to remember that countless others were still struggling for three square meals a day and some decent clothing. “So we decided to ask our clients to donate some clothes for the city’s poor at the time of tiffin delivery. So far, we’ve managed to clothe more than two thousand people.”Before the clothes are distributed, they are temporarily stored on the campus of the Agrawal Institute of Management and Technology, Vikhroli, courtesy of Dr Pawan Agrawal, an author and educationist who did his PhD on the dabbawalas. “The clothes are being stored in a classroom,” Agrawal said.“We are also ironing and gift wrapping them before we distribute them to the needy so that they look as good as new.”Talekar said that while he wishes to keep the ‘Kapda Bank’ going even after Diwali, the biggest hurdle the community faces is a lack of storage space for the collected clothes.“We can’t afford to rent a space. But if anyone can lend us some storage space, we’d be happy to expand the ‘Kapda Bank’ and help even more of the poor. The space would have to be in the city, as our men would continue to collect clothes along with their daily tiffin deliveries and we can’t afford any delays.”The dabbawalas much lauded ‘Roti Bank’ was based on an initiative by Yusuf Mukati, founder, Haroon Mukati Islamic Centre (HMIC), Aurangabad.