HARSH TRUTHS, HARD JOURNEY

Harsh Mariwala and Ram Charan trace Marico's rise from relative obscurity to a company taking on multinational Goliaths, and winning.

- Krishna Gopalan

THE MOST DELICIOUS IRONY in Harsh Realities is Marico’s battle with the then Hindustan Lever for supremacy in the hair oil market. A phone conversation between the multinational’s Chairman, Keki Dadiseth, and Marico’s boss Harsh Mariwala provides a fascinating insight into the minds of these two protagonists. The offer to buy the Indian consumer company was unambiguous and in the event of Mariwala not agreeing to do so, the words uttered were, “Marico will be history.” If Dadiseth thought the Indian entrepreneur was a pushover, his assessment was hopelessly off the mark. Not only did Mariwala say no, he also lived to tell the tale and that, too, in the most remarkable way.