The Tiffin

I've always been fascinated by the idea of tiffin lunches. A delicious assortment of spicy curries delivered hot to your office every day sounds like a wonderful thing. So this YA novel was just what I needed to learn more about the system that ensures this service.

Kumal has lived with the Seths all his life but they are not his parents. He knows they took him in as a baby. He has always believed that he was an orphan. His life with the Seths is hard. They operate a dhaba (a small restaurant) and Kumal works in it night and day for no pay. If it wasn't for a older man, Vinayak, who works for the tiffin service and comes to the dhaba every day he would never have known a kind word. Vinayak taught him to read and write and he intervenes show more when Sethji assaults Kumal. He told Kumal that if he ever felt he could not stay with the Seths that he was welcome to come to his home. One rainy night Kumal does just that. He asks Vinayak if he can join the dabbawallas, the men who deliver the tiffins. Vinayak asks the dabbawalla organization if they would allow this but because Kumal comes from another caste they turn him down. Then one day when Kumal is at the train station observing the sorting of the tiffin carriers he assists another boy who dropped his carrier on the train tracks. His actions were so brave that the dabbawallas agree to accept Kumal but instead he asks them to help him locate his mother who, he has learned, works in the financial district. He proposes that every tiffin delivered there include a note addressed to the woman who gave birth to him but couched in such a way that the message would only be understood by her. Although this is controversial the dabbawallas vote overwhelmingly to send out the notices. To Kumal's great disappointment his mother does not get in touch But many other customers are so upset at the intrusion into their private lunches they demand and are given a discount for the next month. This certainly does not endear Kumal to the dabbawallas who barely make ends meet as it is. Kumal's search for his family may be fruitless but as he and Vinayak get closer they form their own family.

The introduction to this book says that the dabbawalla service delivers hot cooked food to thousands of subscribers every day. "They have an enviable track record--only one box in six million is lost." Too bad we don't have a tiffin service in Canada. I'm sure it would be a much healthier alternative that pizza or burgers and fries for lunch. This book has inspired me to make a lentil daal for supper tonight. I'm salivating already. show less

12 year old Kunal doesn't know much about his mom, except that she dropped him off with a friend and never came back for him. He works as a slave for a cruel foster family, and he dreams of escaping his horrible life. When a kindly dabbawalla (deliveryman) Vinayak offers to give him a place to live, and help him possibly escape from being a waiter, he jumps at the idea, and then has some of his own. He is determined to use the tiffin carriers to get a note to his mother and get reunited. This is an intriguing story, moreso because there are parts that never get answered, and are left up to the reader's imagination. I loved the descriptions of Bombay and the busy life of the dabbawallas. This author is also the one who wrote The Third show more Eye, The Silver Anklet and The Deadly Conch. show less