Subhash Dandekar of Camlin is no more
Grandfather i.e. Subhash Dandekar who worked to add colour to the lives of children of about 3 generations of India is no more in this world. He was the founder of brands like Camlin which earlier only made ink but Subhash Dandekar grew this ink business into the largest stationery brand in India. Let us know about his journey…
Subhash Dandekar died on July 15 at the age of 86. He was ill for some time and was admitted to Hinduja Hospital. His last rites took place at Shivaji Park cremation ground.
The journey began in 1931.
The history of the Camlin brand begins in 1931. The company was founded by DP Dandekar and GP Dandekar. It was later renamed Dandekar & Company. At that time the company was mainly engaged in manufacturing inks. However, at that time the company had to struggle a lot because imported goods were cheap.
With the demise of Subhash Dandekar, the senior businessman who established the camel industry, we have lost the dadaist personality that gave birth to the world famous Marathi industry.
Subhash Dandekar not only promoted the cotton industry but also added colour to the lives of thousands of youth by providing them employment. pic.twitter.com/5FPWUAlVXB
– Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) July 15, 2024
horse and camel logo
The Camlin brand name remained the same from the beginning, but earlier its logo was a horse. But the story of its transformation into a camel, told by Chandrashekhar Ojha of the company, is interesting. Once, DP Dandekar was sitting in an Irani cafe in Mumbai, where there was a poster for Camel cigarettes. Right after seeing this poster, he changed the company’s brand logo to Camel.
Everything changed in 1960.
Founder Subhash Dandekar took the job of carving out Camlin in a new way. In the 1960s, he expanded the Camlin brand from ink to colour. He first started making watercolours and launched them in pastel form. Along with this, the company started launching other types of colours and other products in the market.
In 2011, Subhash Dandekar sold 50 percent of his famous Camlin brand to Japanese company Kokuyo. After this deal, Camlin products started reaching other countries while Kokuyo products started reaching the Indian market. Since then, Subhash Dandekar had become the honorary chairman of the company.
