These management gurus wear dhotis, Gandhi topis and speak only a smattering of English while delivering lectures about efficiency to management students, corporate houses and business conferences.

They are Mumbai�s dabbawallas who speak from the heart about the trade they know best � carrying two lakh dabbas to the city�s office-goers.

Secretary of the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charity Trust Gangaram Talekar and M Medge, a tiffin carrier contractor � both essentially dabbawallas � have been delivering lectures at premier institutes like the IIMs, CII conferences, Symbiosis institutes, WTC, for the last six years.

�It started with the Confederation of Indian Industry inviting us for a lecture,� said Talekar. �Our connections are well-managed, which is what we talk about at the lectures. Without putting in any capital ourselves, we manage to achieve a difficult feat,� he added.

Around 5,000 dabbawallas work every day through a system of multiple relay to deliver tiffin boxes in an exercise that begins at 9 am and ends at 5 pm. The finely-tuned system earned them a Six Sigma rating from business magazine Forbes.

Points discussed by the two dabbawallas

* They rely on low capital and use cycles, wooden carriages and local trains to achieve their target.

* There are several groups that work independently and network with each other to achieve one goal.

* They meet once a month where all the groups gather and thrash out issues.

* There is no retirement age. People work as long as they want. to.

* Since their lifestyle is simple and involves a lot of physical exercise, they rarely suffer from illnesses.

* The dabbawallas have a credit society which gets them through money crunches.

* Being �annadattas� they are automatically treated with respect.