The (in) Visibility of the lunch box

Abstract

The paper unveils the labour-intensive dabbawala system  followed in Mumbai and the subsequent socio-cultural conflicts of a middle-class family as projected in the Hindi movie, The Lunchbox. The dabbawalas collect lunch boxes from restaurants or homes and deliver them to people at work. The study is based on a 2013 Indian epistolary romantic film written and directed by Ritesh Batra. In the movie, a disgusted wife, Ila (Nimrat Kaur) tries to gain the care and affection from her indifferent husband through the delicious food that she sends him for lunch. The irony is that through a rare mix-up, the lunchbox of Ila is delivered, not to her husband but to Saajan Fernandez (Irfan Khan), a widower about to retire from his job as an accountant. The paper presents the paradox of food preparation. On the one side, it has become a well-established industry as in the case of the Dabbawala System and on the other hand, it is a monotonous activity for a woman who spends most of her time in the kitchen. The director clearly portrays the psyche of an ordinary Indian housewife who considers it her prime responsibility to prepare tasty food for her husband. The paper unveils the invisibility of the marginalised Indian housewife and the visibility of the male centred Dabbawalas. The paper also analyses invisibility at different levels.