The Story of Dr Pawan Agrawal and Mumbai’s Dabbawala
SEASON 2 | from ZERO to HERO | Stories of Inspiring Indians
Gandhiji once said, “Our greatest ability as humans is not to change the world but to change ourselves”! There is a very deep meaning in that thought. All of us are born on this planet as ordinary Homo sapiens but only a few know our purpose and worth. There are many stories told of people who have made it big on the canvas of life and most thought it was just by mere luck or a chance of God’s grace that saw them through. Many such people made their lives meaningful and impacted their journeys through sheer grit and hard work. There is a lot to glean from these successful souls who have an inspirational story to tell the world.
There are many heroes in India, who have moved from Zero to Super Hero by steering the trajectory of their lives into positive waves of excellence. They are the delightful sparks which have not just ignited dull minds but also held the Indian torch high in the global skies of success.
This story is about a teacher — the one to emulate and who shows the right way. Such an inspirational teacher, who now leads an entire army of people to fend for themselves and create history, is Dr. Pawan Agrawal who is a self-made personality and the champion of the cause of the legendary Dabbawalas of Mumbai who have become an international case study by themselves. Dr. Pawan Agrawal, the founder of the Kamalabai Charitable Trust, Mumbai, is an International motivational speaker, Author, Educationist, Business Consultant and a successful Entrepreneur.
If Mumbai is to be understood in the best possible manner, then the story of the Dabbawalas is an emotion that defines the backbone of this city and its myriad expressions. Started way back in 1890, this 130 year old unique system of delivery has become a case study for the Harvard University and other Ivy League Institutions, as a remarkable example of logistics and supply chain management. Many will remember that Sir Richard Branson actually worked with this system to understand its efficiency and intrinsic methodology. With a Six Sigma track record of only one failure in 16 million deliveries, this efficient system today is spearheaded, mentored and controlled by an able advisor in Dr. Pawan Agrawal. He is their true brand ambassador!
Born in a small hamlet close to the Dhule city in Maharashtra, young Pawan enjoyed a lovely protected childhood with his large joint family. Innocent and carefree, his wake up call came at age 16 when he failed in his 10th SSC board examination. He got depressed and did not even want to return home as he was ashamed of himself. His family empathized with him but his father gave him a tight slap on his face. The slap was not for failing but for giving up on such a small failure in life. This was a turning point in his life. One moment of realization changed this loser to become a spark and beacon for the generations to come, and today, he has made his country proud all over the world. Dr. Agrawal’s life took a great turn after he failed in the SSC (10th) examination. It was not about failure; it was all about fighting it, which he did! His success has been just because of the inspiration of his father, Shri. Girdharilal Agrawal.
With renewed energy and hope, young Pawan studied and cleared the examinations with a second class. Studying in the village and in a protected environment was comfortable for him but his father had other plans. He wanted his son to go to Mumbai for further studies. In 1980, Pawan entered bustling Mumbai and stayed with his chartered accountant uncle who put him into Somaiah College for his undergraduate studies. Everything was fine but the village boy was missing his friends and family back home. Within a month he packed up and moved back to Dhule. No one spoke a word. His father took him into confidence and convinced him to return. This back and forth journey happened many times, as young Pawan vacillated between the comfort of his village and studying in Mumbai. A letter from his father explaining the expectations his family had from him changed Pawan and made him more responsible, and he stayed put in the Metro.
Pawan worked really hard thereafter and studied till he became a teacher himself. During the tough days, he sold clothes on the streets, taught needy children and worked his way up through B. Com., M. Com., B. Ed, LLB and finally he took to teaching as a profession. Agrawal Commerce classes started when he himself was a student. Starting with just 2 students, Pawan would teach for a few hours in his spare time and for 12 hours on Sundays. Slowly but surely, the class grew bigger. News of this fantastic teacher spread like wildfire. With 100 students under his wing, Pawan sought his father’s guidance to buy a small building and start his professional set-up.
Listening to the problems of his students and colleagues was always an interesting activity for young Pawan. His counselling skills made him very popular in all circles. He was not just another teacher but a guide and a leader. Pawan was always one step forward in every activity. Whether it was distributing free buttermilk to the street folk, enjoying the immersion of Lord Ganesh or giving food to roadside hawkers who were in the sun always, his generosity became the talk of the town. He was a favourite of all in the community. Agrawal classes were booming. The building was bustling with students and good vibrations. Every small amount earned as profit went back into building a good eco system replete with happiness and caring.
Then came that historic day when the Agrawal School in Vikhroli was inaugurated to serve the cause of poor and needy students from the slums. Under privileged and bright students were supported in large numbers at absolutely no cost. Every opportunity in education was provided. This was just the beginning. St Agrasen High school and Junior colleges came next. Thousands of poor children saw the hope of literacy, schools were well equipped for the digital world. A trust was born and registered as the Kamalabai Charitable Trust in Mumbai. What was next???
It was time for Pawan to educate himself further. His institutions were well settled and operated in auto mode as all systems were in place. So he registered for a doctoral degree study taking the case of the Mumbai Dabbawalas as his topic of research. This system of efficient delivery of tiffin and lunch boxes to over two lakh homes and offices was already established but no one had studied the case in depth.
During the study, he found the hardships faced by the families of the Dabbawalas. He was inspired and motivated by the commitment of these ordinary people as Dabbawalas. From a professor of accounting, he converted himself into becoming an ambassador for the Dabbawalas. Today, he travels the world to share the amazing work-culture of the Mumbai Dabbawalas.
Who Are The Dabbawalas?
Embedded in the heart and soul of Mumbai is the story of the Dabbawalas. To quote Raga, a dear friend of the blogger, “If Mumbai is an emotion, Dabbawalas are a part of that emotion”. It is a tradition that dates back to 1890!
Dr. Pawan Agrawal explains how contrary to what some people think, Dabbawalas are not caterers. They are individuals who collect home-cooked food from the residences of their customers and get them delivered to their offices during lunch time. At the end of the day, they return the empty Dabbas (lunch boxes) to those homes from where they had picked up the food.
It is a very well-organized system with everything in place. Local trains with luggage compartments are used to transfer the boxes back and forth. At one end, Dabbawalas pick up the lunch boxes from homes and carry them to the station to be loaded on to a local train. At the other end, there is another batch of Dabbawalas who collect the Dabbas after they are unloaded and deliver them to the offices. This is the type of arrangement that runs along different lines in Mumbai. The city has around 5,000 Dabbawalas, mostly on bicycles, who help deliver 200,000 lunch boxes per day.
So impressive is the business of the Dabbawalas, that their management skills have drawn attention worldwide; their fan club even includes Prince Charles and business magnate, Richard Branson. The Harvard Business School did a case study on their excellence, and the Forbes magazine had heaps of praise for their efficiency.
Quoting from The Inspiration Unlimited magazine…
“It is rare to find an organization to survive with the same work culture for more than 125 years. It is rare to find an organization to continue to work with age old technologies, age old practices and yet deliver highest level of customer satisfaction.” I am talking about the Mumbai Dabbawalas. It is an amazing organization, where even today, age and experience are the sole criteria for leadership. A leader (called Mukadam) not only leads, but also presents the highest level of commitment, hard work and sincerity thereby presenting the highest level of ideals. It is rare to find people with so much of care and concern for their customers, that even when they have any emergency, they would first contact their leader (Mukadam) and ensure that the working of the organization is not affected, because they understand that the smooth working of the organization will help them and their families to have a smooth life. Ordinary people can become outstanding champions of quality and they can deliver world class services. The Mumbai Dabbawalas are people who are barely literate, and yet share a common philosophy, a commitment to excellence and an uncompromising attitude to serve people on time.
Dr. Pawan Agrawal, himself a tireless worker, got inspired by the Mumbai Dabbawalas, and has been studying and promoting them for the last 9 years. He has also started studying and promoting the Mumbai Paperwalas (those who distribute newspapers in every home). Not just this, he has taken further initiatives to help these people. He imparts free education to the children of Mumbai Dabbawalas in his own institutions and encourages others also to do the same.
He has delivered numerous sessions worldwide including TEDx talks. His customers include Fortune 500 companies, leading Educational Institutions like IIMs, IITs, BITS, Boston University, Cambridge University, Corporate houses like Cadbury, SAP ,Volvo, Honda, HCL, HSBC, Maruti Suzuki, Vodafone, Dell, IBM, Microsoft , Colgate-Palmolive, Johnson Control, Bosch, Philips, Sandvik, Mahindra, HDFC, MetLife, Kantar, Endurance, Schneider Electric, ET Now, Hindustan Unilever, TNT, DAMCO , Abbott India, Merck, XL group, Lilly, Cognizant, BT, Godrej, MINDA, CROMA, VITEOS, Konica Minolta, Goodyear Future Generali Insurance, MaxLife, Croma, TITAN, etc. He has spoken on platforms of CII, YI, EO, Economic Times, WPC, NHRD, FICCI, CA Convention, CTO, HR Conclave, Selling Summit, CEO Talks and many more…
Dr. Pawan Agrawal inspires and encourages people, making them realize their true potential. He delivers sessions on “Supply Chain Management of Mumbai Dabbawalas and Mumbai Paperwala”- great stories where the deliverables provide key takeaways to the participants in terms of sources of inspiration, commitment to tasks, quality consciousness, etc.
He has given several talks around India, as well as in various countries in Asia and Africa and in the United States and the United Kingdom. His 30 years of research, understanding and experience have helped people on the path of personal growth and organizational fulfilment. He has been invited as a Guest Speaker & a Keynote Speaker to many organizations also.
Some of the assignments handled are:-
Kenya & Nigeria : To deliver a presentation on “Logistics and Supply Chain Management ” for the YPO Chapter, 2006.
U.K. : First Source Company& British Telecom at London, 2008.
U.S. : Brihan Maharashtra Mandal Convention at Philadelphia, 2009.
U.S. : G.Com. company at New York & Share and Care at New Jersey, 2010.
U.S. : Cognizant at Boston, Dhoom FM Radio at New Jersey, 2010.
Dubai : For IIM Alumni Gulf Summit, 2010.
Hongkong : For TATA at Macau, 2011.
Oman : For EO Chapter at Muscat, 2011.
Pakistan : For an International Conference on Supply Chain at Karachi Oct, 2011.
Malaysia “ For KL International Trade Forum, 2011 at Kuala Lumpur.
Kenya : For EO East Africa, 2014.
Millions have benefited from his dynamic workshops /sessions nationally and internationally, and billions have heard him as a Motivational Speaker. He has appeared on numerous radio and television shows.
He has been recognized & honoured with several awards listed below:-
“Best Teacher Award” for the year 1994–95 by Dnyan Prasarak Shikshan Sanstha, Mumbai.
“Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Shikshak Gaurav Puraskar” for the year 2000–2001 by Dalit Sahitya Academy, Maharashtra.
“Shikshak Shree Puraskar” for the year 2002 by Manushyabal Vikas Academy, Maharashtra
“All India Pratibha Sanman Award 2006” by Bhartiya Samaj Vikas Academy (Regd.) & Human Resource Development Public Service Academy (Trust), Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh)
“Rajiv Gandhi Puraskar” by Rajiv Gandhi Social Group, Pune.2007
“Certificate of Honorary Fellowship” by Indian Institute of Material Management, 2008
“Vocational Excellence Award 2008–09” by Rotary Club
“Utkrusht Shikshak Sanmam” 2010 by Mumbai National Congress
“S9 KARYA RATNA PURASKAR” by S9 TV News Channel on 24.08.2011
Conclusion:
Dr. Pawan Agrawal is the perfect example for a “Zero to Hero” personality. In fact, he has authored an interesting book with this title and often his public speeches are on this topic. He was destined to fail and lose himself in a quaint unknown village. But destiny and his caring father shaped his life to become a shining star and a great Indian, a person all fellow Indians and people across the world are proud of.
