Mahashay Dharampal Gulati, the owner of the iconic spices brand MDH (Mahashian Di Hatti), passed away on Thursday.
Gulati has been the face of the spice company for years, featuring in its advertisements.
According to MDH website, he was born on March 27, 1923, in Sialkot in undivided India. Dharampal left school before completing 5th class. He set up a small business with his father 'Mahashay' Chunnilal in 1937 and later joined the parental business of spices under the name of 'Mahashian Di Hatti'. The family was popularly known as ‘Deggi Mirch Wale‘ people in Sialkot.
After partition, Gulati migrated to Delhi, purchased a Tonga and drove it from New Delhi Railway Station to Qutab Road and Karol Bagh to Bara Hindu Rao to earn his living. Later, he sold his tonga, bought a small shop and started his business of spices under the banner of 'Mahashian Di Hatti of Sialkot Deggi Mirch Wale‘ which later became a multi-billion rupee empire of MDH.
The company was officially set up in Delhi in 1959 after Gulati legally purchased land in Kirti Nagar and started the manufacturing unit. ‘Mahashay’ Dharampal Gulati was named the FMCG sector's highest-paid CEO in 2017 with Rs 21 crore as an annual salary. Besides his Rs 1500-crore spices empire, the family also runs a charitable trust which has about 20 schools and a hospital.
From losing everything in the partition to building India's biggest spices brand, Gulati's journey was indeed an inspiration for many.
Here's the journey of 'the spice king of India' in pictures.
