Iconic face of MDH masala passes away
NEW DELHI: Dharampal Gulati, who died on Thursday at the age of 97 after a cardiac arrest, earned several sobriquets over the years: MDH Uncle, Dadaji and Masala King. It was the last that most aptly described the man behind the New Delhibased masala maker MDH Private Limited, who single-handedly made the packaged, readyto-use, spices popular across the country.
Dressed in a red turban, white sherwani (long coat) and a pearl necklace, the moustached, bespectacled, ever-smiling Gulati, was the face of his brand, featuring in almost all its ads over the decades. MDH is short for Mahashian Di Hatti, which is Punjabi for the “shop of a respectable man.”.
Gulati ‘s was one of the postpartition refugee success stories. Born in 1923 in Sialkot, Pakistan, Gulati came to Delhi in September 1947. Starting as a tangewala (horse-cart puller) in Delhi, he built MDH, started by his father Chuni Lal Gulati as a small shop in Sialkot in 1919, into a Rs 2,500crore spice brand.
After selling his horse cart in 1948, he bought a small wooden khokha (makeshift shop) at
Ajmal Khan Road in Karol Bagh, where he started grinding and selling spices under the brand name Mahashian Di Hatti. The packaged masala was among MDH’s first innovation. The cardboard box pack launched in the late 1940s carried Gulati’s image.
As the business picked up, in 1954, he set up a spice store in Karol Bagh. Gulati always believed in the power of adverting, and MDH was one of the first companies to launch an aggressive print ad campaign in 1948. In 1984, when the company launched its first TV ad, he was once again its brand ambassador.
NEW DELHI: India’s spice king and MDH Masala owner Mahashay Dharampal Gulati, familiar to all those who watched him in his company’s ads over the years, died here on Thursday morning. He was 97.
Gulati, who was awarded the country’s third-highest civilian award Padma Bhushan last year, was undergoing treatment at the Mata Chanan Devi Hospital where he breathed his last, people privy to the details said.
According to reports, he was undergoing post-Covid treatment and suffered a cardiac arrest in the morning.
Gulati, popularly known as Spice King, was born in Sialkot (now in Pakistan) on March 27, 1923. He moved to India after Partition and set up his business in Delhi.
Mahashian Di Hatti (MDH) was founded by his late father Mahashay Chunni Lal Gulati.
School-dropout Mahashay Dharampal Gulati started his spices business journey as a nondescript shack in Delhi’s Karol Bagh after selling his tonga, and went on, at the age of 94, to becoming the highest-paid CEO in the country’s FMCG sector.
Tributes for the entrepreneur, whose face became synonymous with his brand, poured in on social media platforms.
“Saddened by the demise of ‘Mahashiyan Di Hatti’ (MDH) President Shri Dharampal Gulati ji, who was honoured with Padma Bhushan. He was a well-known personality of the Indian industry. His social service activities are also commendable. My condolences to his family and fans,” President Ram Nath Kovind tweeted in Hindi.
Union home minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia were among several other eminent leaders who expressed their grief over his demise.
Shah called him a kindhearted gentleman who “was a wonderful symbol of struggle and hard work”. “The life of Dharampal ji, who attained the pinnacle of success through his hard work, inspires every person. May God grant salvation to the departed soul and give his family the power to bear this sorrow. Om Shanti,” the home minister tweeted in Hindi.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said he was an inspiring personality. “He dedicated his life for the society. God bless his soul,” he tweeted.
“India’s most inspiring entrepreneur, MDH owner Dharm Pal Mahashay passed away this morning. I have never met such an inspiring and lively soul. May his soul rest in peace,” added deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.