I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this assignment.  Laura Harris

Ritesh Batra’s 2013 film The Lunchbox focuses on the relationship between Ila, a housewife, and Saajan, an accountant. Every day, Ila prepares a lunch intended to be delivered to her husband through Mumbai’s dabbawala system. The dabbawalas collect lunch boxes from housewives to deliver warm, home cooked meals to husbands at work. However, one day her lunchbox is mistakenly delivered to Saajan. The two begin a correspondence, sharing details about their lives in daily notes. On the surface, the film is a simple story of love and friendship. However, upon closer examination, one finds that it is also rich with geographic themes. The Lunchbox exemplifies the geographic notions of space and place, as well as demonstrating the inside and outside meanings of food for several characters. Ila’s role as a housewife, and in a broader sense as a worker in the food industry, conjures up ideas of gendered space and patriarchal roles.

The physical space of the kitchen holds greater personal meaning for Ila. As defined by Jackson, space is a physical location, while place has more personal connection (Jackson 2006). Throughout the film, the home kitchen serves as a place for Ila to contemplate her life and choices. While preparing food, she reflects on her marriage, her family, and her hopes for the future. The kitchen is where Ila fosters many of her closest personal relationships. She shouts out the window to the woman living above, referred to as “Aunty”. Aunty advises Ila in her relationships with her husband and Saajan, while the two women provide companionship to each other in their often isolated roles as housewives. For Ila, her relationship with Saajan primarily occurs in the kitchen. She prepares his food, writes him notes, and reads the responses in the kitchen. Thus, the kitchen is simultaneously a contemplative and social space for Ila.

In the beginning of the film, Saajan’s office was an impersonal, generic space. He was disconnected from his coworkers and everything else around him. His daily life was governed by monotony. However, as he begins receiving home cooked food every day and his relationship with Ila grows, his lunch spot becomes a familiar place, grounded by interpersonal connection. Suddenly, his workplace holds greater significance. The Lunchbox depicts food has having the power to humanize space and saturate it with meaning.

Food, especially that prepared in the home, inherently contains meaning. The food Ila cooks has both inside and outside meaning, as defined by Mintz. Inside meaning is created by individuals “imparting significance to their own acts and the acts of those around them” (Mintz 23). At one point, Ila prepares a lunch for Saajan using an old family recipe. Here, she demonstrates a kind of inside meaning. Certain dishes evoke strong memories and emotions. For Ila, food holds the power to recapture her husband’s affection, or to win the affection of Saajan. Her cooking is infused with her desired to be loved and valued.  The food from Ila serves as one of Saajan’s only communications with other people. To him, food contains the inside meaning of human connection, which he has difficulty finding in other areas of life.

Ila’s food is also imbued with outside meaning, defined by Mintz as the larger cultural conditions of consumption (Mintz 20). The patriarchal forces rooted in Indian society influence Ila’s role as a mother and wife. Every day, it is assumed that Ila will prepare food for her family, just as every other woman must prepare food for her family. The mere existence of the dabbawala system is evidence of the measures taken to cater to men. This small, but notable, industry takes its livelihood from the notion that men deserve a warm, personally delivered meal every day. The food prepared by Ila, and other wives, comes to represent the expectations of Indian patriarchy. Through her food, Ila seeks the approval and affection of her husband. Saajan is a widower, meaning that he has no wife to prepare his food. Therefore, he is forced to order his lunch from a restaurant and eat prepackaged dinners. The loss of Saajan’s wife is more overtly present in his food consumption habits than in any other facet of his life. The worth of a woman is shown to be directly linked to her role in the kitchen and home.

The Lunchbox also presents the home kitchen as a gendered space. Men are never present in the kitchen at any point during the film. The kitchen is a feminine space, where women fulfill their societally prescribed roles. However, the feminine space of the kitchen also creates a sense of comfort and familiarity not felt in other, male dominated spaces. In this way, Ila feels free to ponder her life and ambitions in the kitchen. Her conversations with Aunty occur in the kitchen, where they find companionship in each other. However, the overarching sense of duty to hegemonic masculinity is overtly present in the kitchen. While in the kitchen, Ila and other women are catering to the needs of others and providing service to males.

By looking at gender roles, one is also led to consider Ila’s role as a worker.  In considering the female domestic worker within the larger framework of work in the food industry, one can better appreciate Ila’s role in perpetuating labor dynamics. Her fruitless attempts to regain her husband’s affection mimic many workers’ experiences of marginalization and under-appreciation.

The Lunchbox is a wonderfully entertaining film that should be of interest to any food geographer. Its subtle exploration of space and place, as well as inside and outside meaning, is invaluable in understanding the nuances of interpersonal relationships and gender in the home kitchen. These geographic concepts are also useful in comprehending the role of home kitchens and housewives within the larger context of work and workers in the food industry.

Works Cited:

Jackson, P. (2006) “Thinking Geographically” Geography 91(3).

Mintz, S. (1996) “Food and its relationship to concepts of power” Tasting Food, Tasting Freedom: Excursions into Eating, Power and the Past. Beacon: Boston.