Brijmohan Lall Munjal’s four-stroke engine of grit, resilience and humility-OxBig News Network

His hands were that of a workman rather than of a business tycoon who had built a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Often he would insist on pouring out the tea for guests, adding spoonfuls of sugar for younger journalists. “You need the energy,” he would insist.

This was a man who understood people as well as business and it was this blend of empathy and vision that turned a modest bicycle parts startup into one of the world’s largest manufacturers of two wheelers.

Born in 1923 in Pakistan’s Lalpur district, Brijmohan migrated to India before partition along with his family. The four brothers – Dayanand, Satyanand, Brij and Om – started with a cycle repair shop in Delhi and soon moved into manufacturing components in Amritsar. Driven by ambition, combined with a shrewd understanding of what was the need of the hour, they shifted to Ludhiana to make cycles.

Despite entrenched incumbents like British companies Raleigh, Hercules and Atlas, they built strong ties with the supply chain to emerge as the largest makers of cycles in the country. Cultivating strong relationships with dealers, suppliers and customers, would be a lifelong theme for Brij Mohan and was the basis of the fledgling company’s incredible success over the next few decades.

Majestic market leader

Cycles, though, were just a stepping stone. Soon the group got into mopeds and by 1983 its unit, Majestic Auto, had become the market leader. The stage was set for its most ambitious foray, one that would catapult Hero to the front ranks of Indian business.

In the 1980s, the Indira Gandhi government took its first hesitant steps to overturn decades of misguided socialist leanings and allowed Indian companies to tie up with MNCs for manufacturing. Munjal seized upon the opportunity to tie up with Japanese leader Honda for making motorcycles in the country.

It was a fortuitous choice, both of the product and the partner. Scooters were what he wanted to make, but accepting that the presence of a behemoth like Bajaj Auto left little room for Hero, he turned to motorcycles. Honda, the most successful bike maker in the world, had its pick from among the heavyweights of Indian companies, including Bajaj, TVS and Escorts.

For scooters, the more saleable product, it tied up with the Firodias. For motorcycles, though, it chose Hero, a testimony to Brij Mohan’s understanding of the industry, manufacturing practices picked up on frequent visits to Germany and Japan, and the quiet confidence he exuded.

The newly minted joint venture placed its trust in the quality of its products, living up to its early tagline of “Fill it, Shut it, Forget it.” Motorcycles of that era were notorious for breaking down frequently and buyers quickly warmed to Hero’s promise.

Post-liberalisation, customer tastes also changed, and young, urban Indians turned to motorcycles instead of scooters. CD 100, Hero’s lightweight, fuel-efficient, and affordable 96cc four-stroke bike launched in 1985, became a game changer.

In a market dominated by two-stroke bikes like the Yamaha RX 100, Kawasaki Bajaj RTZ, and the Yezdi, the CD 100 offered fuel efficiency, an early nudge to the question that Indian automobile buyers would henceforth ask, “Mileage kitna deti hai? (How much mileage does it give?)”

By 2002, Hero Honda had done the unthinkable—overtaking Bajaj as India’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer.

It was the ultimate tribute to India’s potential. Two companies, bitter rivals in the market, had between them created a world-class two-wheeler industry. Indeed, while Bajaj and Hero traded barbs in the media (who can forget the former’s insouciant ad campaign “Kyun Hero”), it didn’t deflect from the mutual respect Rahul Bajaj and Munjal had for each other.

Munjal, for his part, rarely showed ill will towards anyone. For all his success, he had been dogged by setbacks, none more so than the June 1991 death of his eldest son Raman Kant Munjal at 41, who by then was running the company, allowing his father to step back from day to day operations. The tragedy forced Munjal to get back into the saddle and groom his second son Pawan to take over from him. Before that he had lost his eldest brother Dayanand in the 1960s just when the quartet were launching their audacious dreams.

Before he passed away in November 2015, Munjal would face another blow when, in 2011, Honda decided to pull out of the two-decade-long JV to go on its own. The decision hurt him, but as ever, there was little recrimination. It wasn’t the way he was made. Which is why when he spoke, it was with the wisdom not just of years lived but of lessons absorbed, of setbacks and tragedies met with equanimity, and of huge success worn lightly.

When he passed away, Brijmohan Lall Munjal left behind not just a business empire, but a legend of resilience, relationships, and relentless ambition.