The Spice King And Founder Of MDH: A Journey Of Grit, Courage And Determination (2024)

All of us have a life to live but very few people live a life truly inspiring and extraordinary. The life of the 95-year-old founder and CEO of Mahashian Di Hatti (MDH),Dharampal Gulati, is studded with so many crowning accomplishments that ordinary mortals might take several lifetimes to achieve. Born on 27th March 1923, in the city of Sialkot, Pakistan, he was raised in a loving family where the parents wanted him to study and get a good education. Dharampal’s father Chuni Lal sold spices from a small shop Mahashian Di Hatti, which he opened in 1919. However, due to fortuitous circ*mstances, the boy’s studies had to be cut short early in life. When he was in the fifth standard, Dharampal quit school to help his father at the shop.

Although it can be said that Dharampal had to give his studies a go-by, the boy did not miss out on getting a worthwhile education in the school of hard knocks of life – something that helped shape and build his character and spirit. The family migrated from Pakistan to India at the time of partition, and stayed at a refugee camp in Amritsar for a while. Dharampal, along with his brother-in-law, then travelled to Delhi in search of work, and stayed at his niece’s flat. After spending some tough, gruelling years, when he pushed his luck trying his hands at and dabbling in many things, he eventually found the spice trade, which became his calling cardthereafter. With a humble beginning from a modest shop in Karol Bagh, Delhi, Dharampal Gulati laid the building blocks and the foundation of his future empire in the spice business, whose worth is multicrore today and growing in value.