{"id":425,"date":"2017-05-07T12:08:52","date_gmt":"2017-05-07T12:08:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/?p=425"},"modified":"2017-07-03T15:51:31","modified_gmt":"2017-07-03T15:51:31","slug":"kapur-and-kapoor-two-friends-survived-partition-and-changed-the-way-indians-drank-tea-and-coffee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/kapur-and-kapoor-two-friends-survived-partition-and-changed-the-way-indians-drank-tea-and-coffee\/","title":{"rendered":"Two friends survived Partition and changed the way Indians drank tea and coffee"},"content":{"rendered":"

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY AANCHAL MALHOTRA
\n<\/strong>New Delhi, India<\/em>
\n<\/strong>Originally published on April 17, 2017 on Scroll.in<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Exactly one month after the Partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, Dina Nath Kapur, born in 1894, left his hometown of Jhelum in Punjab and set out for the capital city of Delhi across the newly made border. Earlier that week, a letter had arrived, both accidentally and serendipitously, at the Lakshmi Commercial Bank of Jhelum that said something like \u201c…first we will pick up Ramesha\u2019s girls, and then move onto the Kapur family. After all, their son has just been newly married, the house must be full of treasure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the days after Independence, the abduction of young women had become a common phenomenon, and given the rising communal riots, Kapur feared for his family, especially the newly married couple, Pran and Swaran. The family left their hometown in haste, packed into a train compartment organised by a relative from Rawalpindi, RRM Tandon, who served in the Railways. They were sternly warned not to bring any belongings, for fear of being looted along the way, but Kapur held in his pocket a receipt proclaiming that a final shipment for his business was still due to arrive from London to Karachi. A single piece of paper that would, in due time, allow him to set up a business empire that would change the domestic lives of many families in the subcontinent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Years before the Partition, Dina Nath Kapur had undertaken another life-changing journey. He had set out from his village in Jhelum into the main city, with an air pump and toolbox, working on fixing bicycles. Slowly, he and a friend, Seva Ram Kapoor, accumulated enough wealth to set up a small shop, where they first fixed bicycle parts and, eventually, began importing bicycles from England. They named their business Hitkari Brothers \u2013 a name conferred upon them by a Dehradun guru whom they had revered for years. Hitkari is someone who works for the greater welfare of society.<\/em> In keeping with their close friendship, the men added to it the word brothers.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1947, the partners found themselves in Delhi but their final shipment of cycles remained in Karachi. With great difficulty, they managed to have it brought to Bombay and then to Delhi, where they had to think about how to commence their business in a new land. The Kapur family rented a small house near Liberty Cinema in Karol Bagh. Pran joined his father\u2019s business. The Kapoor family, with its sons, Ved and Krishan, rented the house just behind them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Hitkari Cycles<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Swaran Kapur, 88, the oldest surviving member of the Hitkari family, holds out an old envelope for me. It is crumpled and torn in places, but the words on it are clear as ever: \u201cThe Hitkari Brothers of Delhi (Cycles)\u201d. Sitting under the balmy sun, she recalled the family\u2019s first few months in the city.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the shipment of cycles finally came to Dilli, we had no place to sell them,\u201d she said. \u201cMy father-in-law approached a man named Janaki Das, requesting him to stock the cycles at his shop, and to distribute them across the country. Cycles were not made locally then, but always imported \u2013 since the deal would save Das some money, he agreed to help us. It grew into a very successfully business and we set up a factory in Shahdara, when we switched from importing foreign parts to local production.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Zenith Cycles was the chosen brand name. \u201cOur cycles were very affordable, available in almost any store across the country,\u201d she recalled. \u201cBut gradually, as India became modernised, the industry grew, as did our competition. By 1960, we were no longer the sole cycle brand but just another name among many others in the market. So while the company continued to produce under the leadership of my husband, my father-in-law began looking around for other opportunities to invest in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Infused with the entrepreneurial drive that became synonymous with many of the refugees from across the border, Dina Nath Kapur strove to find a sector where once again, Hitkari could contribute. His pursuit brought him to ceramics. At the time, Bengal Pottery was the only local company in the subcontinent, but its products were too expensive for the common man.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Hitkaris\u2019 idea to create beautiful and affordable ceramics began to take concrete shape when Krishan Kapoor, son of Seva Ram Kapoor, returned home after having completed his training in pottery in Japan. With an initial investment of Rs 1.5 lakh contributed by friends and family, a factory was set up in Faridabad, and Hitkari Pottery was born.<\/span><\/p>\n

A row of cups, saucers and teapots line the table in front of us. \u201cThe first few designs were utilitarian and heavy, and one could tell that they were handmade and hastily glazed,\u201d said Swaran Kapur, picking up a basic cup, blockishly mug-like in shape and an unattractive beige in colour. \u201cBut it was important because they changed the way Indians drank chai or coffee. It took years of aggressive marketing, but the material was finally accepted by the masses, who up until then largely used only stoneware. A cup like this would have cost about 4-6 annas.\u201d The word HITKARI was embossed right into the bottom of the cup. At the beginning, the family had not yet invested in any printing technology.<\/span><\/p>\n