The life of a child is changed forever when against all odds a single tiffin container goes astray and the note concealed within it never reaches its intended recipient. Now 12 years old, Kunal labours in a cafe where the abusive owner treats him like a slave, and the boy must console himself with dreams of being reunited with the mother who abandoned him as a baby. His longing to solve the mystery of his parentage is given new impetus when he is befriended by one of the dabbawalla (tiffin carriers) who inadvertently gives him the chance to use Mumbai's vast lunch box distribution network to conduct a search for his family. This is an exciting narrative, with many unexpected twists and turns, rich in its detail of the daily life of a great Indian city with its teeming slums, its amazing traditions, its sights, sounds - and smells!