India's 'Masala' King No More; MDH Owner Passes Away At 97 Dharampal Gulati, owner of the household spices company MDH, died of cardiac arrest
By Debarghya Sil •
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Dharampal Gulati, owner of the household spices company Mahashian Di Hatti—also known as MDH—died of cardiac arrest aged 97. Several media reports suggest that he was undergoing treatment at a hospital in the national capital and breathed his last at 5:30 AM on Thursday morning.
Called "dalaji' and "Mahashayji' Gulati successfully delivered its spices to every household in the country. The Padma Bhushan awardee expanded its spices kingdom overseas as well.
Early Life
Gulati was born on March 27, 1923 in Sialkot (Pakistan) to Mahashay Chunnilal and mother Mata Chanan Devi who were philanthropic, religious and followers of Arya Samaj. A drop out of class 5, with the help of his father, he set up a small business of looking mirrors and thereafter soap business and carpentry job, cloth merchant, hardware business and rice trading. However, these businesses didn't last for long and he joined his parental business i.e. spices under the name of "Mahashian Di Hatti' popularly known as "Deggi Mirch Wale" people.
After the partition, he came to Indian and reached Delhi with INR 1,500 cash and bought a tonga for INR 650 and drove it from New Delhi Railway Station to Qutab Road and Karol Bagh to Bara Hindu Rao at two "annas' sawari for a few days.
Later, he bought a small wooden khokha at Ajmal Khan Road, Karol Bagh and started his family business of ground spices and again raised the banner of Mahashian Di Hatti of Sialkot "Deggi Mirch Wale".
Since then, there has been no looking back for Gulati. As Indians started loving his spices, his spice empire grew exponentially.
Contribution
His name is associated with multiple educational institutions such as MDH International School, Mahashay Chunnilal Saraswati Shishu Mandir, and Mata Leela Wati Kanya Vidhayala to just name a few.
He is known to have established more than 20 schools for the benefits of the society and the poor people at large.
He has also established a 300-bed multi speciality hospital which specialises in MRI, CT scan, heart wing, neurosciences, IVF, etc., on a 5-acre land in West Delhi.
Soon after the news of his demise broke, Indians poured their condolences over Twitter. India's defence minister Rajnath Singh expressed his condolences through a tweet.
भारत के प्रतिष्ठित कारोबारियों में से एक महाशय धर्मपालजी के निधन से मुझे दुःख की अनुभूति हुई है।छोटे व्यवसाय से शुरू करने बावजूद उन्होंने अपनी एक पहचान बनाई। वे सामाजिक कार्यों में काफ़ी सक्रिय थे और अंतिम समय तक सक्रिय रहे। मैं उनके परिवार के प्रति अपनी संवेदना व्यक्त करता हूँ।
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) December 3, 2020
Delhi's chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, "Dharm Pal ji was a very inspiring personality. He dedicated his life for society. God bless his soul."
Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia called him the most inspiring entrepreneur and prayed for his soul to rest in peace.
India's most inspiring entrepreneur,
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) December 3, 2020
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. pic.twitter.com/SOdiqFyJvX
