Give to the world the best you can: Spice King Mahashay Dharampal

Popularly known as the Spice King, Mahashay Dharampal Gulati died on December 3, 2020 morning due to sudden cardiac arrest in New Delhi. The king of spices, Dharampal Gulati, 98, was admitted to Delhi’s Mata Chanan Devi Hospital where he was reportedly undergoing treatment for the past few weeks.

Mahashay Dharampal is truly one of the most inspiring personalities of our times. His immense modesty and down to earth charm deceptively hides the magnitudes of his persona and his inspiring accomplishments.

He is personality of many dimensions and achievements. He is a true Karamyogi whose contributions to the community, which need to be acknowledged and recognized, despite all his reluctance and refusals to come into the limelight.

Born in Sialkot (now in Pakistan) on March 27, 1923, he moved to India after the Partition and set up his business in Delhi. The spice company, ‘Mahashian Di Hatti’ (MDH) was initially found by his late father Mahashay Chunni Lal Gulati.

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His father Dharampal’s father Chuni Lal sold spices from a small shop Mahashian Di Hat. He left studies at a very young age to help his father at the shop.

Mahashay Dharampal is truly one of the most inspiring personalities of our times. His immense modesty and down to earth charm deceptively hides the magnitudes of his persona and his inspiring accomplishments. 

He is personality of many dimensions and achievements. He is a true Karamyogi whose contributions to the community, which need to be acknowledged and recognized, despite all his reluctance and refusals to come into the limelight.

His father Mahashay Chunnilal and mother Mata Chanan Devi were Philanthropic,  religious minded and followers of Arya Samaj.

In the year 1933, he left school before he could have completed 5th class. In 1937, he set up with the help of his father a small business of looking mirrors and thereafter soap business and carpentry job, cloth merchant, hardware business & rice trading.

Somehow these petty businesses could not hold him for long and he again joined hands with his father in his parental business i.e. Spices under the name of Mahashian Di Hatti popularly known as ‘Deggi Mirch Wale‘ people.

After the partition of the country, he came to India and reached Delhi on

27th September 1947.  At that time he was having only Rs.1500/- with him.

Out of this amount he purchased a Tonga for Rs.650/- and drove it from New Delhi Railway Station to Qutab Road and Karol Bagh to Bara Hindu Rao at two Annas sawari for few days.

Thereafter he bought small wooden khokha (Shop/ Hatti) measuring 14ft. x 9 ft. at Ajmal Khan Road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi and started his family business of ground spices and again raised the banner of Mahashian Di Hatti of Sialkot “Deggi Mirch Wale‘“.

With his vision, perseverance and a devoted honesty in business, Mahashayji led the venture to the heights, which have inspired others to follow.  Very few people know the success and the hard work of Mahashay ji behind the success of the super brand MDH.  Mahashay ji does’t have any secret formula behind his grand success.

He just follows a traditionally established principle of honouring the commitments and serving his customers through pure and quality products.   His commitment to humanity and community and his relentless activities shine in many spheres of life.  Towards this he rises above the confines of religions and communities and never hesitates to serve the mankind, no matter what the cause.

Started with a small 10 beds eye hospital at Arya  Samaj, Subhash Nagar, New Delhi during November 1975, thereafter in January 1984, a 20 beds hospital was established in JanakPuri, New Delhi to perpetuate the memory of his mother Mata Chanan Devi. 

With 300 beds in about 5 acres land, this super specialty hospital with MRI, CT Scan, Heart Wing, Neuro Sciences, IVF etc. is the greatest gift for the people living in West Delhi as there is no other hospital of this standard in this area. 

Mahashay ji himself visits the hospital regularly and actively participates in the management of the hospital despite all his hectic commitments in the ever-expanding business. Like always, today also, poor people are treated free in the hospital and they gets free medical aid worth million of rupees annually.

Mahashay Dharmpal has also extended his blessing to the children by developing a school to impart quality education to the new generations.  Today he is associated with innumerous educational institutions particularly MDH International School, Mahashay Chunnilal Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Mata Leela Wati Kanya Vidhayala, Mahashay Dharmpal Vidhya Mandir etc.  which hold a distinction that upholds the philosophy of harmonious co-existence.

He alone has established more than 20 schools for the benefits of the society and the poor people at large.

Spend a few hours with him and one would realize so many of his great deeds that will never be talked about. For a man running a worth billion rupees business he has a surprisingly easy access to all. One can never count how many girls from the poorer families are enjoying the happy married life, thanks to Mahashayji’s anonymous help. 

Talk to the social organizations dedicated to the cause of helping such girls  and they will tell you he is one of their greatest benefactor. And then there are so many children coming from the less privileged families. Mahashay Dharmpal has taken on the responsibility of their education from their school fee to their books and other needs Mahashayji will never hesitate to come forward.

Often seen as a religion person for his active and enthusiastic participation in community functions and festivals, Mahashayji is a personality above religions.  He is indeed a man of all communities. Anything that divides the community he wants no part of it. May be that is the reason why he has stayed away from all controversies or allegiances of politics.

The Philosophy of Mahashay Dharampal is “Give to the world the best you can, and the best will come back to you automatically” has virtually been a proverbial come true by the fact that today, MDH is a name that stands synonymous not only for quality spices but also for its contributions towards the welfare of society and upliftment of the needy, by way of establishing Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Trust. MDH today stands as a name in every house hold, trusted & relished all over the world by millions.

To expand his business, he gave an ad in a popular Hindi newspaper, Pratap – ‘Mahashian di Hatti of Sialkot Deggi Mirch Waale’.

“This proved to be a win-win solution. Within days, they started getting numerous orders by mail. One of the first was all the way from Cuttack in Odisha from a businessman who had migrated from Multan,” according to the book.

In 1949, he had the novel idea of packaging spices in well-designed boxes. By 1954, he had earned enough to afford a bigger house for the family and by the 1960s he had established a factory – MDH Masale, according to the book.

MDH owner Dharampal Gulati received the Padma Bhushan award from President Ram Nath Kovind in 2019.

In 2017, Gulati was India’s highest paid FMCG CEO, getting salary of over 21 crore, which was higher than Adi Godrej and Vivek Gambhir of Godrej Consumer, Sanjiv Mehta of Hindustan Unilever and YC Deveshwar of ITC. MDH had posted a net profit of Rs 213 crore while its total revenues were Rs 924 crore in 2017 fiscal.

He was always physically active and is believed to wake up at around 4:30 am every day to exercise. *He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the country’s third-highest civilian award, in 2019.

Most recently, he supported the fight against the novel coronavirus by donating PPE kits and an undisclosed amount to the Delhi CM Relief Fund. On April 28, Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia took to Twitter to share the news that he had donated 7,500 PPE kits for healthcare workers in Delhi.

Gulati has left behind a business empire worth over a thousand crores.