Sanjiv Mehta Owner of East Indian company

The East India company was imprinted as a notorious name in the minds of every Indian. Even  Gen Z is aware of east India company imperial invasion which took the wealth, even more, the lives of the 10 million people during the Indian rebellion of 1857. When we remind the history there are heroes Mangal Pandey, Jhansi Laksmibai, Nana sahib, Kunwar singh, Raja Pratap Singh, Mohammad khan, Abdul Ali khan,.....who paid the best they can for their motherland.

 

    Let us look into the history of  how East India company put down its roots in India. In 1600, Queen Elizabeth - I granted permission to 200 merchants to trade in East India. which become known as East India company. The company is set to trade spices and exotic items to Europe from India.

 In 1612 the company established its factories in Surat and later expanded to Chennai, Mumbai and Calcutta. The company wasn't considered about the local needs instead it only thrives on profits. In 1757 the company gets control over  the Moguls state of Bengal by force. It further went over French, Dutch and established the company rule over Indian territories.

 The company has its own army of about  260000 which is more than the present Indian air-force strength(actually there is a major preference for army personnel compared with navy and air force). In 1857 the revolt against the  East India company where many Indians stand against and stand by the East India company. This Indian rebellion in 1857 is considered as the first war for Indian independence by  historians. Even though the revolt is unsuccessful it shook the imperial pillars of East India company.

 In 1858 the company rule and its operations were dissolved by the British government. Thank god  now a day we don't have that type of aggressive company with armies.

 A cut to 2005 an Indian-born businessman Sanjiv Mehta bought the east Indian company nearly for 20 million.

 In  2003 Sanjiv Mehta bought around 25% of shares in the East Indian company in partnered with Anand Mahindra and other businessman.

In 2005 he bought all the remained shares from the shareholders and acquired all the right of the company which includes the rights over mint coins, license to trade under the coat of arms and rights to reprinting the old documents and he transformed the company into a consumer branded luxury tea, coffee and food company.

Yep, you may feel what's great in that ? he had money so he acquired it. 

But what inspired me to write on the topic is that how he addressed global audience in the opening ceremony of  its first store in London in 2010.

"A company which once owned India is now owned by an Indian ... a feeling of empire striking back" Mehta said.

and he added "This avatar of the East India Company is based on the idea of unity in diversity, “We are taking all the good forward and leaving the bad behind. The previous company was built on aggression, this company was built on compassion."

"It a dream come true to build a business like this and acquire a company like this. " 

he further expressed his interest to bring back the company to India in future where there is always a place for the fastest emerging and expanding economies.

He received many (more than 1500) emails of support from various parts of India and other countries.

 And finally A reverence bow for his perspective and the personality he had.

In my view, it matters a lot to pick up the fallen ones, and it damn matter to standby a broken one(whether its a firm or a friend) and make use of unpicked. Even though the company has its own fame. But the way its being portrayed for centuries is different. So the vision to make use company's notorious past to the make contrasting futures expansion was sizeable and significant one.