We all know how famous the brand Godrej is in our country and have used it's appliances or other products somewhere in our lives.
But very few people know about the hard work behind this well known brand- The Godrej Group, which began it's venture in 1897 and was founded by Ardeshir Burjorji Sorabji Godrej about 120 years ago.
Ardeshir was born in 1868 in a Parsi-Zoroastrian family in Mumbai. He was a student of law like many other financially well off Indians around that time, but law wasn't made for him and soon after he came back to India.
After coming back to India, he began his job as an assistant in a chemist shop through which he started taking interest in manufacturing surgical instruments, which also became his first business but unfortunately that couldn't do well, but he was determined to do well in India.
Soon after that he received a loan from Merwanji Cama, a Parsi businessman and philanthropist so he could start a new business of lock-making, which also started the establishment of the Godrej empire.
His locks were cheaper, better and also sold far better in the market compared to other locks.
After that he began manufacturing safes, double plate doors etc and all these things became very popular so much so that even the Queen of England used one during her tour to India in 1921 as reported by The Hindu.
And then there was so stopping, he then began with soaps- crafting them from vegetable oil instead of animal fat.
His younger brother Pirojsha also joined his business and together they became the Godrej Brothers.
Even when the business flourished, Ardeshir lived a simple life and established an Indian based business organization and made-in-India became famous.
Ardeshir passed away in January 1936, a year when Godrej and Boyce made ₹12 lakh as revenue. This quiet man was no doubt a foundation of today's nationwide call that is Make-in-India.
