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Monday,31-March-2025
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Maharashtra

Mumbai’s famed ‘dabbawalas’ mourn the demise of Queen Elizabeth

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The famed ‘dabbawala’ (tiffin-carrier) community of Mumbai mourned the passing away of Great Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II at 96 after a brief illness, here on Friday.

The Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association Charitable Trust Chairman Ulhas Muke said the Mumbai dabbawalas shared a close association with Britain’s royal family.

“We are extremely sad to hear about the passing of Queen Elizabeth II… There was a wave of shock and disbelief among the dabbawalas community last night when they heard the devastating news. We all pray that her soul rests in peace,” said Muke in a statement.

As a token tribute, the dabbawalas paid homage to the Queen at the Borivali railway station in north Mumbai, since Friday is a public holiday, NMTBSACT spokesperson Ritesh Shantaram Andre told IANS.

Maharashtra and Mumbai are currently immersed in the immersion ceremonies of gigantic, big, medium and small idols of Lord Ganesh on the occasion of Anant Chaturdashi, marking the curtains on the 10-day long Ganeshotsav festival.

The dabbawalas enjoyed a close rapport with the British royalty ever since the Prince of Wales — now King Charles — visited and interacted with them first in 2003.

Highly impressed by their work and sheer dedication, later the British royal family had invited the dabbawalas’ leaders to Prince Charles and Camilla’s wedding in April 2005.

Two dabbawalas’ representatives — Raghunath Medge and Sopan Mare — attended the royal wedding, rubbing shoulders with other VVIPs from across the globe.

At the wedding, the dabbawalas had gifted a kurta set to Prince Charles and a sari to his wife Camilla, plus one trademark ‘dabba’ (tiffin).

In April 2016, during the first visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Mumbai dabbawalas had welcomed them as warmly as they would welcome a ‘mulga’ (son) and ‘suon’ (daughter-in-law).

At that time, the dabbawalas presented the Duchess with a coveted Paithani sari, considered an auspicious gift for a Maharashtrian bride, and a ‘pheta’ (headgear), a picture and statuettes of Lord Vithoba and his consort Rukmini.

Lord Vithoba and his consort are the presiding deities of the state as also the dabbawalas, whose main temple is in the pilgrimage centre of Pandharpur in Solapur district.

Later, in May 2018, during the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the dabbawalas sent a gift of a traditional ‘pheta’ (turban) for the groom and a special kurta-lehenga for his bride.

In May 2019, another body, the Mumbai Dabbawalas Association had presented a special set of silver jewellery to Prince Archie — the son of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

At that time, MDA spokesperson Subhash Talekar had excitedly told IANS: “We feel as if we have all become ‘Ajoba’ (grandpa). We have presented them with a silver ‘kamarpatta’, ‘toda’ and ‘wala’ (waist-band, wrist-band and anklets), gifted to a grandson.”

The dabbawalas are grateful that it was owing to the respect given to them and their humble trade by King Charles two decades ago that their 132-year-old tribe attained global fame and accolades.

Instantly recognized in their simple but iconic attire — a white kurta, loose pyjama and a cap — since 1890, the 5,000 dabbawalas deliver over 2,00,000 lunch tiffin boxes to hungary government or private companies’ staffers and even students daily all over the city, and post-Coronavirus pandemic, diversified into other related service sectors.

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Mumbai’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sudhakar Pathare, who was posted in the Port Zone, passed away in a road accident on Saturday.

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Pathare had visited Hyderabad for training. He was on his way to visit a temple with a relative when the accident occurred. Both Pathare and his relative lost their lives in the crash.

Mumbai Police have been informed about the incident.

More details are awaited.

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Maharashtra

Order to demolish the tomb of Hazrat Syed Bale Shah Baba in Mira Bhayander

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Mumbai: The state government has issued an order to demolish the four hundred year old dargah of Hazrat Syed Bale Shah Peer Rahmatullah Alaih located in Mira Bhayander. Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation has sent a letter to the collector declaring this dargah illegal and ordered action against it. As the dargah is located on forest land, communalists had started demanding the demolition of the dargah. In the House, Darranjan Daukhre had also demanded action against the dargah, after which now the state government has ordered to run a bulldozer on the dargah. An order has also been issued to remove and demolish the dargah by May.

Dargah trustee Amjad Sheikh said that this dargah is ancient and this order is illegal in itself. In this case, communal forces had launched a campaign against the dargah, after which this order was issued.

There is a dargah on the beach and citing the threat of terrorist and illegal activities and the presence of terrorists here, there was a demand to demolish the dargah. The dargah is close to the sea and in such a situation, the threat of a terrorist attack on Mumbai from the sea has been expressed, while the dargah administration has clearly denied this and said that communal organizations are running their agenda against the dargah and there is no such threat. Muslims have opposed this decision of the government and Muslims have also expressed their displeasure and anger over it.

The trustee says that this dargah is ancient and earlier the collector and the municipal corporation had given a notice, after which the illegal shed and other premises were demolished here and the dargah administration has taken this action at its own level. Now an order has been issued to demolish the dargah itself.

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Maharashtra

Haji Ali Dargah will be closed for pilgrims for a few hours on Eid due to rising sea level

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Mumbai: Due to rising sea level at Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai, the dargah will be closed for pilgrims for a few hours on Eid. On March 31, the dargah will be closed for pilgrims from 12 noon to 3 pm. During this time, entry of pilgrims to the dargah will be restricted. The dargah will be closed on Tuesday, April 1 from 12:45 pm to 3:45 pm and on Wednesday, April 2 from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm.

Therefore, we have appealed to the pilgrims not to gather at the dargah during these hours. This information has been released by Tahir, administrative officer of Haji Ali Dargah. Pilgrims visit Haji Ali Dargah on Eid-Basi and Tiwasi, but due to the rising water level of the sea, water gets accumulated on the way to the Dargah and entry to the Dargah is prohibited and the gate of the Dargah remains closed during these days, due to which there is a lot of crowd there. Therefore, pilgrims have been requested to come to the Dargah only at the scheduled time.

The police also remains vigilant at the Dargah during the rising sea level, as there is a crowd of pilgrims here during Eid and festivals. The Haji Ali Dargah administration has said that on the occasion of Eid, lakhs of pilgrims visit the Dargah of Haji Ali (RahmatullahAlaih). These pilgrims include pilgrims from the country and abroad, so the Dargah administration has also claimed special security arrangements on Eid. Spiritual scenes are also seen at Haji Ali Dargah during Eid prayers.

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