Dharampal Gulati: A loveable Indian Entrepreuner

Can you forget this gentleman with an ethnic wear of a turban, hook moustache, glasses and pearl necklace that was printed on all of his company's spice packages, on advertising messages and television advertisements that made him one of the most endearing and likeable brand ambassadors of the country?

Yes, he is none other than Dharampal Gulati, better known as Mahashay Dharampal Gulati, an Indian businessman who founded MDH Masala and was the CEO of  the company till he breathed his last.

Gulati was an Indian businessman and founder and CEO of MDH (Mahashian Di Hatti) [ gentleman's shop] Masala, an Indian spice company. He was referred to as 'spice-king' in reference to his pioneering of ready-to-use ground spices.

Born on 27 March 1923 in Sialkot now in Pakistan, he was the son of  Chunnilal Gulati who had a spice shop there called Mahashian Di Hatti also known by Deggi Mirch Wale. 

In 1933, at the age of 10, he dropped out of school and worked assorted jobs including carpentry, rice trading and selling hardware before he joined his father to help him in his spice business.

After he joined his father's spice shop in Sialkot, Gulati helped him in expanding  the store to places  like Lahore, Shekhupura, Nankana Sahib, Lyallpur and Multan in Punjab. But in 1947, with the partition of India, the family was forced to leave Sialkot and moved to India. 

The family spent time in a refugee camp in Amritsar before making it across to New Delhi to join his sister. He bought a horse carriage (tonga) for Rs 650, and operated around New Delhi railway station, Qutab Road and Karol Bagh to make two ends meet.

In 1958, he set up a small wooden pop-up store in the Karol Bagh area to restart his father's spice store and restored it with the same name Mahashian Di Hatti. After he advertised in the popular Hindi newspaper Pratap, he saw his clientele increase and so did the store's popularity. 

He set up his second store at Chandni Chowk before buying a land and setting up a manufacturing facility in the Kirti Nagar area (New Delhi) in 1959. During this time, when most Indians would grind spices at home, he pioneered the concept of ready-to-use ground spices. The company was registered as MDH, an abbreviation of Mahashian Di Hatti) in 1965.

Gulati is credited with the growth of the company to having 18 manufacturing facilities and revenues of Rs. 1,095 crore (equivalent to Rs. 12 billion or US$170 million) in 2019.

In 2018, he was termed as the highest-paid fast-moving consumer goods CEO in India who earned over Rs. 21 crore. During this period, he was also noted for pioneering entrepreneurial brand marketing in India with him serving as ‘Brand ambassador of his company. ’ He used to promote his company single handedly appearing in the company’s promos. He used to say,” Why give money to outsiders for the company’s promotion when we can do it ourselves; we can use the same money for the betterment of the company.”

As an entrepreuner, Gulati founded 20 schools for furthering primary and secondary education including the MDH International School, Mahashay Chunnilal Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Mata Lilawati Kanya Vidyalaya and Mahashay Dharampal Vidya Mandir. Alongwith, he set up a 200-bed hospital for the poor in New Delhi and a mobile hospital for slum dwellers. 

His charity foundation, with his father's name, Mahashay Chunnilal Charitable Trust, administers some of his charity initiatives. Recently during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gulati donated money to the Chief Minister's relief fund and donated 7,500 PPE kits to healthcare workers in the union territory of Delhi.

Gulati was awarded with the Padma Bhushan award, India's third highest civilian honour in 2019.  

He died of cardiac arrest on December 3 at the Mata Chanan Devi Hospital in Delhi.