From A School Dropout to India’s Masala King: The Journey Of MDH Owner Dharampal Gulati

The renowned owner of MDH spices company, Mahashay Dharampal Gulati passed away recently on 3 December 2020. The 97-year old recently contracted coronavirus and recovered from it. However, he succumbed to heart attack later. Mahashay was undergoing medical treatment at a hospital in New Delhi where he suffered a cardiac arrest.

MDH link with Pakistan

Mahashay, also known as the “masala king” of India, had created his own place with his brand of spices not only in the country, but across the world. Mahashay was born on March, 27, 1923 in Sialkot, which is now in Pakistan. He migrated to India with his parents at the time of partition in 1947. Before moving to Delhi, Mahashay and his family spent their initial years in a refugee camp in Amritsar. The MDH company also has its roots in Pakistan, where Mahashay’s father had a small spice shop named “Mahashian Di Hatti” in 1919 which later became one of the largest spice manufacturers in India, valued at over Rs 15000 crore.

Early life of Mahashay Dharampal Gulati

From hauling passengers to selling mirrors to doing carpentry, Gulati is a homemade crorepati that identified the pulse of the nation early on and made a homemaker’s life easier with ready-to-use ground herbs. Born in Sialkot, Pakistan, in 1923, Gulati was the son of Mahashay Chunnilal and Mata Chanan Devi and had a humble childhood. Spending time with buffalo near the river banks, playing kushti in akharas, helping his father sell dairy products, and going to school occupied his early days. Not interested in studies from the beginning, Gulati dropped out of school in the fifth grade and joined his father in his small business: selling mirrors, followed by soap. It also went to other products such as hardware, fabrics and rice trade. The experience he gained as a teenager shaped his future-oriented vision of the consumer.

For a short time, the father-son duo also opened a spice shop called “Mahashian Di Hatti”, popularly known as “Deggi Mirch Wale”. However, during the partition, the Deggi Mirch family had to leave all their belongings and emigrate to Delhi. Gulati told The Wall Street Journal,

“On September 7, 1947, I arrived at a refugee camp in Amritsar with my family. He was 23 at the time. I left Amritsar with my brother-in-law and came to Delhi to find work. We felt that Amritsar was too close to the border and the riot zone. Having travelled to Delhi several times before, I also knew that it was cheaper than Punjab”.

A young man with determination

There he was, a young man with only 1,500 rupees in his pocket. He used Rs 650 to buy a tonga and began transporting people from the New Delhi train station to Qutab Road and Karol Bagh to Bara Hindu Rao in just two annas, according to the report. So he sold his tonga and bought a small wooden khokha (shop) on Ajmal Khan Road in the Karol Bagh area. The banner of “Mahashian Di Hatti” of Sialkot, “Deggi Mirch Wale”, rose again.

In the years that followed, he and his younger brother Sat Pal made a name for themselves through word of mouth and local publicity. The brothers calculated the potential of the Indian spice market and opened more stores in areas like Khari Baoli. They also established the first modern spice store in Delhi in 1953. Gulati said to HT,

“It was the first modern spice store in Delhi. I went to Bombay three times to get ideas for interior planning.”

From a Tongawala to Masala King

Gulati was a dedicated entrepreneur who did not take an off even on Sundays. He would make daily rounds of factories, markets and meet dealers to supervise and make sure everything was running smoothly. He soon took Indian spices to international level by exporting to various parts of the world, including the UK, Europe, UAE, Canda, etc. Today, MDH Masala exports its products to more than 100 countries. Gulati’s son manages the overall operations now and his six daughters handle distribution region wise.

According to The Economic Times, in 2017, Gulati was the highest paid entrepreneur at the age of 94 and took home more than Rs 21 crore as salary. It is said that it was his motivation to work and quality of products offered at an affordable price that made him the king of spices.

A king at heart too

In fact, he was also a king of hearts as 90% of his salary went to charity. He also has a charitable trust named after his father, which runs a 250-bed hospital for slum dwellers and runs four other schools for the less privileged. Most recently as a contribution to support the fight against the novel coronavirus, Gulati donated PPE kits and an undisclosed amount to the Delhi CM relief fund. On 28 April, Manish Sisodia took to Twitter to share the news that Dharmpal had donated 7,500 PPE kits for healthcare workers in Delhi. Additionally, he also contributed to the CM Relief Fund.

A brand ambassador

Despite his age, Gulati took all major business decisions. Three aspects that he believes to be extremely important for his company and product are – sincere work, quality products, and affordable prices. The owner of around 80 percent stake in the company, he routinely visits his factory and the market to ensure things are running smoothly. In 2019, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in the country, in 2019. Gulati also became his company’s biggest brand ambassador and was visually familiar to a vast swathe of the population.

Asli Masale Sach Sach, MDH MDH

The image of the ever smiling “Dadaji” with glasses in his iconic red turban and white sherwani on the packaging assures all of us that this masala will add exquisite aroma, texture and flavour to any dish you make. Call it a guess because of the packaging, but MDH masalas’ colourful packets have always been a part of our culinary repertoire. With 64 products including Meat Masala, Kasoori Methi, Garam Masala, Rajma Masala, Shahi Paneer Masala, Dal Makhani Masala, Sabzi Masala, this commercial consumer goods company achieved sales of Rs 924 crore in 2017. They export to more than one hundred countries and they have eight lakh retailers and 1,000 wholesalers.

The man with a turban and a very likable smile promoted his masalas in various TVCs and the jingle Asli Masale Sach Sach, MDH MDH still runs fresh in our hearts like it was yesterday that we watched it for the first time.