From being a Refugee to building India's most popular spices brand.

The story of - MDH Masala.
A thread

1/ Mahashay Dharampal Gulati was born in 1923 in Sialkot, then-India (now in Punjab, Pakistan).

2/ The story begins in the year 1919 - when his father, Mahashay Chunni Lal Gulati had set up a shop to sell spices. The shop was started under the name of 'Mahashian Di Hatti' (MDH) which translates to 'a respected man's shop'.

3/ Dharampal was not very interested in studies and had dropped out of his school he was in Class 5.

4/ He had then started selling mirrors, soap, etc. and had also tried his hand at carpentry job.

5/ As none of those businesses took off, he joined his father in selling spices. They became popular as 'Deggi Mirch Wale' as the business grew locally.

6/ After the India-Pakistan partition, the family had to leave everything and move to India.

7/ At the age of 23, he arrived at a refugee camp in Amritsar. Very soon he and his brother left for Delhi with only ₹1500 in his pockets.

8/ Upon reaching Delhi, Dharampal bought a 'Tonga' (a horse-drawn two-wheeled vehicle) for ₹650 and started ferrying people.

9/ He let go of the 'Tonga' when he realized it was not bringing in enough money to sustain his family's expenses.

10/ He then bought a modest 14ft x 9ft shop on Ajmal Khan Road, Karol Bagh in Delhi, and started his family business of ground spices.

11/ The word about 'Sialkot's Spicemakers' spread around Delhi and MDH gained local fame. As the business grew, he started another store to expand his business in 1953.

12/ By 1959, he had bought a plot in Kirti Nagar to start a factory producing ground spices.

13/ One of the most innovative things the company did was introducing packaged masala. Over the decades, MDH achieved massive success in the spices market in India and became a familiar taste among many Indian households.

14/ Once while shooting a TV commercial for MDH, the actor who was playing the role of the bride's father failed to show up. Dharampal, the owner of MDH, decided to take up the role and get the work done. Ever since then, he has appeared in all MDH commercials.

15/ As a result, Mahashay Dharampal Gulati is now known as 'MDH Uncle', 'Mahashayji', 'Dharampalji', and many other such names.

16/ The company now sells more than 65 products and has over lakhs of retailers and over 1000 wholesale dealers throughout the country.

17/ According to one source, the company brought in about ₹2000 Cr as Operating Income and ₹420 Cr as Net Income in the last FY.

18/ Machines at the MDH factories can produce over 30 tonnes of spices in a single day.

19/ The owner of MDH, Mahashay Dharampal Gulati is 97 years old today and still makes rounds of his factories regularly. He still owns 80% of the stake in the company.

20/ In 2017, Mahashay Dharampal Gulati took ₹21 Cr as his salary - making him the highest-paid CEO of an Indian FMCG Company.

21/ Gulati says that 90% of his salary goes to the charities in his personal capacity. He has established a 300+ bed hospital and over 20 schools.

22/ As his most recent act of kindness, he donated 7500 PPE kits to the health workers fighting COVID-19. https://twitter.com/msisodia/status/1255166473556725760

23/ In 2019, Mahashay Dharampal Gulati received Padma Bhushan from the President & the Government of India. https://twitter.com/rashtrapatibhvn/status/1106825684050014209

No matter what, if you hear someone sing "Asli Masale Sach Sach...", you'll be tempted to complete the lines with "MDH. MDH."

References: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EzRLsMdXtq_E2GsSy7R521yVepSJlrbH7h5cY89EDhU/edit?usp=sharing

End of thread. Stay tuned for another thread next week.