Generation gap: Will-Kate invite gives dabbawalas the miss

The royal wedding at Westminster Abbey in London on Friday was deemed a picture-perfect affair for the millions who tuned in to watch the event. But Mumbai’s dabbawalas must have felt a little left out. After all, representatives of the city’s legendary ‘swift set’, who had been invited to another royal wedding in 2005, had no such luck this time around.

“Prince William does not seem as large-hearted as his father Prince Charles,” said Raghunath Medge, chief of the Dabbawala Association that was invited to Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles’ wedding six years ago.

However, the dabbawalas failed to make it to the guest list of the royal wedding on Friday. Prince William and Kate Middleton exchanged vows at Westminster Abbey in the presence of some 1,900 guests, while millions of people around the world watched the ceremony live on TV.

“We did not get the opportunity to attend the wedding. But we witnessed the live TV coverage. Both the prince and his wife Kate were looking beautiful and the entire Westminster Abbey was bedecked to welcome the new royal couple,” noted Medge.

Nevertheless, the association has decided to send a special hand-made greeting card to the couple to congratulate them.
The dabbawalas had their first brush with British royalty in November 2003, when Prince Charles met them at Churchgate.

“The prince was mesmerised learning about the way we work and listening to our experiences,” recollects a dabbawala who was present at the historic meeting.

On hearing of Prince Charles’ proposed wedding in 2005, the Dabbawala Association sent a nine-yard sari for Camilla and a Maharashtrian turban for the prince. Prince Charles accepted the gift and extended a special invitation to the association to attend his wedding. He even made air fare arrangements for two people and took care of other expenses as well.

“Watching Prince William’s wedding ceremony on television, we reminisced about our experience. While this wedding took place in a church, Prince Charles’ wedding ceremony was held at the royal palace. Prince William’s father is a big-hearted man who did not forget us. He even took care of our six-day visit to London,” said Medge.

His colleague Sopan More, who also attended the wedding, added, “We saw the London Eye and the river Thames. But it was an expensive country where we couldn’t afford anything,” recalled More.