Mahashay Dharampal Gulati (English: Mahashay Dharampal Gulati, born- March 27, 1923; death- December 3, 2020) was the owner of India’s leading spice company ‘MDH’. Dharampal Gulati, popularly known as ‘Masala King’, gained fame not only in India but also abroad with his MDH spices. MDH exports spices to Switzerland, United States of America, Japan, Canada, European countries, etc. Presently MDH has emerged as one of the largest brands in the spices category in the world. The full name of MDH spices is Mahashiyan Di Hatti and it is considered a great example of success in the Indian food industry.
Dharampal Gulati was born on March 27, 1923 in Sialkot, Pakistan, where his father used to sell spices from a shop called ‘Mahashiyan Di Hatti’. He was a great follower of Arya Samaj. Dharampal Gulati left his schooling at the age of 10 (when he was in fifth grade) and started working at his father’s shop. On September 7, 1947, he returned from Pakistan to Delhi, India with his family after the Indo-Pak partition. He started living at his niece’s house in Karol Bagh, Delhi, where there was no water or electricity supply.[1] Dharampal Gulati was very conscious about his health, due to which he used to do yoga at 5 in the morning. In his autobiography, he has revealed the secret behind his childhood and success.
At the time when the freedom movement was in full swing across the country, at the age of 18, Dharampal Gulati got married to Leelavati ji. After marriage, Dharampal Gulati fulfilled the new responsibility very well. Mahashay Dharampal’s wife Lilavati died in 1992.
When he came to Delhi, his father gave him Rs 1500, out of which Dharampal Gulati bought a tanga (horse cart) worth Rs 650 and used to charge 2 annas from passengers from Connaught Place to Karol Bagh. They were often humiliated for not proving themselves well enough for their livelihood. So he sold his horse cart and set up a small shop on the side of Ajmal Khan Road and started his family’s old business of selling spices. After initial success, he rented another shop in Chandni Chowk in the year 1953, due to which in the year 1959 he purchased land in Kirti Nagar to set up his own factory, where he started the MDH Spices Empire i.e. ‘Mahashiyan Di Hatti’ Ltd.’, which means “a nobleman’s shop” in Punjabi. The purity of spices was the foundation of the Gulati family’s business. This was the reason why Dharampal ji decided to grind the spices himself. But this task was not so easy. This difficulty of the gentleman became the reason for his success.
MDH exports spices to Switzerland, United States of America, Japan, Canada, European countries, etc. Presently, MDH has emerged as one of the largest brands in the spices category not only in India but across the world. Even after crossing the age of 90, Dharampal Gulati himself continued to advertise MDH products. Today MDH sells more than 50 different products.
Thanks to the hard work of Dharampal Gulati, MDH has today become a brand worth around Rs 2000 crore. Today MDH has about 18 factories in India and Dubai in which the finished spice is sold in many countries. At present, about 62 products of MDH are in the market. The company claims that it has control over 80% of the market in North India. Gulati ji used to advertise his company himself. He was also considered the world’s oldest ad star.[2]
‘Mahashay Chunnilal Charitable Trust’ was started by Dharampal Gulati, under which a 250-bed hospital and a mobile hospital for slum dwellers are being run. Apart from this, the trust also runs 4 schools in Delhi. Financial assistance is also given to social organizations through this trust. MDH also runs Sandesh magazine, which reflects India’s traditional family values.
Dharampal Gulati may not have had much bookish education, but big business giants respected his prowess. According to Euromonitor, Dharampal Gulati was the highest-paid CEO of the FMCG sector. According to sources, he received in-hand salary of Rs 25 crore in 2018. Dharampal Gulati used to donate about 90 percent of his salary. He was also running 20 schools and a hospital. Dharampal Gulati ji died on December 3, 2020 due to heart failure.