The Covid-19 pandemic led people to frantically look for means to revitalise their bodies and boost their immunity. This search often led many to the doorstep of Ayurvedic medicines such as chyawanprash, ashwagandha, shilajit, giloy, guggul and other herb-based concoctions claiming to energise health because they were made with natural ingredients, as per directions mentioned in ancient Indian texts.
The story of the Baidyanath Ayurveda brand began in Kansli village in northwestern Rajasthan – a region known for courageous Tomar warriors who gave a tough fight to all outsiders, including emperors of the Mughal dynasty. Folklore here mentions a deeply entrenched independent streak: even the local river Savi takes birth in the scraggy highlands, it says, preferring to disappear into the region’s sandy valleys rather than catering to outsiders.
Extending up to the Shekhavati belt, this dry and parched land is also famed for giving birth to some of India’s most renowned business families. The beginning of most of these enterprises was modest. This was also the case of the Joshi family, who, like most other Seths of the time, traded in grains and dabbled in a money lending business. Their recorded family tree extends from Amarchand Joshi – his son Deen Dayal, Deen Dayal’s son Hardev, Hardev’s son Shiv Narayan and onwards to Shiv Narayan’s three sons Ram Karan, Ram Dayal Joshi and Ram Narain Sharma.
“My great grandfather, Ram Dayal Joshi ji, was known to be a gifted child from the beginning. Though home tutored in childhood and then sent to the adjoining village to learn basic language and mathematics skills, by the time he was a teen, people would come to consult him for their financial problems, for dispute resolution, and [for] advice on family partitions. He had a sharp head for mathematics, a calm temperament, and a pleasing personality – which made him a popular mediator in resolving conflicts between business parties,” says Ajay Sharma, the current owner of Baidyanath.
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Ram Dayal Joshi’s business mantra
Ram Dayal Joshi was barely 18 years old when, suddenly, the region was swept by a wave of influenza, to which his father eventually succumbed. This led to his grandmother and mother going into depression. The sudden death of his father forced Ram Dayal to sit on the ‘galla’, as the boss’ seat is called in rural parlance.
According to a jeevni or biography by celebrated author Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, titled Ram Dayal Joshi Smriti Granth, “Ram Dayal took stock of the family’s grain trading as well as the ‘loan and interest’ ledger from his grandfather and decided to follow a mantra of Kum Munafa – Jyada Bikri.” Almost 100 years ago, a young, budding entrepreneur from a small Indian village had the business acumen to spin a ‘low profits–big clientage’ formula that many international companies follow even today.
The village grain business was going well, but the younger brother, Ram Narain Sharma, expressed a desire to study Sanskrit and literature instead of joining the family business. Though surprised at this eclectic choice, Ram Dayal encouraged his brother to follow his passion, which would prove to be a boon in times to come.
After his preliminary studies, Ram Dayal encouraged his younger brother to steer his knowledge of Sanskrit toward studying ancient Ayurvedic texts from a centre in Ramgarh. Within a few years, Ram Narain became a proficient Vaidyaraj or Ayurvedic doctor who understood authentic Ayurveda as explained by the ancients in Sanskrit texts. Again, Ram Dayal, being a practical and enterprising person, nudged Ram Narain not only to give advice and consultation to patients but also to make and keep stock of jadi bootis or herbs and pudiyas or sachets of Ayurvedic medicines to give to his patients and sell to other vaids. He provided Ram Narain with staff to help procure, prepare, and sell medicine. Soon, this business boomed beyond anyone’s expectations.
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Baidyanath is born
On a visit to Calcutta, Ram Dayal realised that his brother’s nascent business of Ayurveda medicines had tremendous potential in the bustling imperial capital of British-ruled India. With his younger brother focused on the medical study of disease, treatment, the impact of natural ingredients on anatomy, and patient management, Ram Dayal formally launched the Baidyanath brand in 1917 and took on the responsibility of production, sale, promotion and publicity of the company’s medicines. He continued to follow his old motto of ‘low profits – big clientage’ to reach maximum patients.
During this phase, Ram Dayal got acquainted with the congress party’s top leadership, which included MK Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad and many more stalwarts. Dinkar writes that “Such was Ram Dayal’s sentiment against British colonialists that during one Congress National Adhiveshan in 1922, when no one else was ready to host Congress workers due to fear of British regime – the Baidyanath family opened their production bhavan for congress functionaries to stay. Ram Dayal formally adopted khadi and projected Baidyanath as a swadeshi brand of medicine, as opposed to western allopathic medicines.”
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A ‘swadeshi’ brand Nehru endorsed
Coined by Dinkar, Baidyanath’s slogan, “Desh ki mitti – desh ki hawa. Desh ka paani – desh ki dawa”, made Baidyanath a household name. By 1940, Baidyanath had become one of India’s most recognised Ayurveda brands. They shifted production to a larger complex at 1, Gupta Lane in Calcutta. With the start of World War II – when the Japanese bombing of Calcutta led them to search for an alternative manufacturing base – key promoter Ram Dayal shifted to Patna and opened a large production centre there. Soon, they opened new centres in Jhansi and Nagpur. Facing a shortage of glass bottles for medicine deliveries, Baidyanath set up its own glass factory to ensure an uninterrupted supply of packaging material.
In 1947, right after Independence, Prime Minister Nehru was keen to set up job creation avenues in his home town, Allahabad (now Prayagraj). Ram Dayal promptly obliged by setting up a vast 60-acre plant, which Nehru himself launched. This plant is still one of Baidyanath’s most prolific production centres.
“Committed to push frontiers of disease management and enhance general immunity of people through natural ingredients, our seniors at Baidyanath undertook initiatives to publish Ayurveda panchmahabhoots or basic principles, the original list of aushadhies or prescriptions and their benefits mentioned in old granths or texts,” says Ajay. The company also “organised baithaks or seminars of top vaids and Ayurveda practitioners to ideate on disease management, financed courses on basic Ayurveda in schools and colleges as a part of their curriculum and collaborated with various top vaids of India to publish articles and books on home remedies for disease management,” he adds. According to him, the family also sponsored treks and expeditions to discover medicinal plants in the Himalayas and set up medicinal gardens in places like Allahabad and Patna.
Of the many Ayurveda businesses in the country, Baidyanath is the only one conceived as a B2B (Business-to-Business) brand, i.e medicines made by a master vaid for use by other vaids. Perhaps this helped make Baidyanath a sticky brand because ‘trust’ is one of the most important ingredients in medicine.
This article is a part of a series called BusinessHistories exploring iconic businesses in India that have endured tough times and changing markets. Read all articles here.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)