The ‘Masala' King
Dignity Dialogue|December 2020
At 98, Mahashay Dharampal Gulati, the face of MDH spices seen in television commercials, is now a role model for entrepreneurs. Here is his story.
The ‘Masala' King

Among the Pad-ma Bhushan awardees of 2019, one was Mahashay Dharampal Gulati, whose story makes for an interesting read. Known as the ‘King of Spices’, Gulati is also famous for his television commercials in which he promotes his ‘MDH’ brand of spices. His luxuriant moustache is what makes him such an instantly recognisable figure, not to mention his ever-smiling and cheerful face. Gulati is the owner and CEO of Mahshian Di Hatti (P) limited, an Indian spice company. He spent the first 25 years of his life in Pakistan and today his spice business has spread all over the world.

Mahashay Gulati was born on March 27, 1923 in Sialkot. He attended school in Pakistan but was not interested in studies and so dropped out in Class V. In Pakistan, his father ran a spice shop in the name of Mahashian Di Hatti (MDH). After leaving school, Gulati assisted his father at the spice shop. He then started selling henna and earned about ₹20 per day. In 1947, during partition, his family decide to migrate to India. The family spent some time in Amritsar’s refugee camp. Then they shifted to Delhi. Initially he started to live at his niece’s house in Karol Bagh. The house had no electricity, water supply or toilet facility.

This story is from the December 2020 edition of Dignity Dialogue.

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This story is from the December 2020 edition of Dignity Dialogue.

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