Khwaja Abdul Hamied

Know about one of the great personalities Khwaja Abdul Hamied

1. By Greeshma K KHWAJA ABDUL HAMIED

2. Today, Indian pharmaceutical industry is the second largest in the world in terms of volumes produced and is among the top six as far as financial turn-over is concerned. This extraordinary success story has two principal authors “ACHARYA” PRAFULLA CHANDRA ROY who founded the Bengal Chemicals in 1901 and KHWAJA ABDUL HAMEID who founded CIPLA in 1935 Dr. Hamied is therefore deservedly regarded as the “father of indigenous modern pharmaceutical industry of India” THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

3. KHWAJA ABDUL HAMEID EARLY LIFE: Son of Khwaja Abdul Ali and Masood Jahan Begum, was born on 31st October,1898 in Aligarh, In 1913 there occurred in Kanpur an agitation, resulted in death of more than seventy Muslims in Police firing, H e thus became witness to wanton acts of Police cruelty which made him deeply resentful of foreign rule and a strong votary of the freedom movement. Khwaja Abdul Hamied 1898-1972

4. He joined Agra College for the Intermediate course in Science, Joined the Leather Training School at Madras as he had developed a strong urge for technical education,  A visit to Allahabad Muir central College, made him abandon the Leather School and join BSc course at Muir Central College Allahabad in 1918, and he joined MSc in the same University in 1920. EDUCATION Muir central College, A llahabad

5. Soon, he was caught in the vortex of the Khilafat and non-cooperation movements, W herein Mahatma Gandhi and Ali Brothers had given a call for boycott of Government and Government assisted institutions, Hamied led the boycott in the Muslim Boarding House of the Allahabad University , H undreds of students and Hamied left for Aligarh and were accommodated by the Ali Brothers in ‘ National Muslim University ’ He came in contact with Gandhiji , Ali Brothers and above all Dr. Zakir Husain PARTICIPATION IN THE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT

6. STUDIES IN GERMANY : Dr. Zakir Husain went to Germany for his PhD in 1923, H amied also followed him to Berlin, He obtained his PhD in Chemistry on his thesis, ‘ Technology of Barium Compounds ’, W orked in soap and perfume manufacturing factory, factories producing hydrogenated edible oils, making glass-lined and enamel vessels, and preparation of analytical chemicals , By then Hamied felt, he was well equipped with practical knowledge of different industrial technologies,

7. While in Germany he struck friendship with a girl called Luba , he had decided to marry Luba but could not do it till he got settled in life, Dr Hamied left for India in October 1927

8. During the travel by ship of nearly twenty days he had ample time to think about his future career, He felt that India needed an organization for chemical and industrial research and experimentation to give practical training to the young graduates, He conceived an idea of establishing a Technical Research Institute. He completed writing his plan for the institute by the time the steamer reached Colombo, Went from place to place, meeting people who could give funds for starting the institute and met with disappointment. STRUGGLE AND TURNING THE CORNER

9. Met the Raja of Nanpura , who listened to him patiently but showed no inclination. Instead , the Raja asked, if he could accompany him as his private secretary on a trip to Europe, Hamied with the Raja and his party left for Europe, he started disliking the job and left the position while in Europe, He then went to Berlin and then married Luba at a mosque in Berlin He made up his mind to go back to India to take a suitable job as a teacher and left Luba in Germany.

10. On his return he went to Leipzig to see an international exhibition and visited stall of Seidel & Naumann He worked out for himself an agency of the company for typewriters at Bombay, Seeing his successful promotion of sales at Bombay, the parent company appointed him as their agent for whole of India, His mother and sister gave him the money to travel to Europe to bring back Luba , While in Germany, Hamied made a fresh agreement with Homo Pharma , he had obtained the agency for ‘ Okasa ’ a restorative tonic , WORKING AS AN AGENT:

11. He established the Chemical, Industrial and Pharmaceutical Laboratory with the acronym CIPLA in 1935 with an initial capital of Rs . 2 lakhs, CIPLA began manufacturing drugs out of a small bungalow in Bombay Central, Cipla primarily develops medicines  to treat  respiratory, cardio vascular disease , arthritis, diabetes,  weight control and   depression & other medical conditions . ESTABLISHMENT OF CIPLA : The premises occupied by Cipla in 1936

12. The company commenced production in 1937 and faced serious difficulties in marketing its products In 1938, even closing of Cipla was contemplated Hamied , therefore, took upon himself the entire work of running Cipla DIFFICULTIES

13. BREAK THROUGH : By the end of 1939, the Second World War started and supplies of drugs and medicines from abroad were suddenly cut off. To meet the civil and defence requirements, orders started pouring in for CIPLA In 1941, the company made sufficient profits to wipe off the losses ,which soon became well known all over India and abroad .

14. His kindness showed in his putting money in the hands of each of the beggars collecting outside his house every morning; he used to say ‘ No one leaves my door with an empty palm ’ Dr. K. A. Hamied believed that ‘... the most essential for success in life is not wealth nor extraordinary knowledge. It is the will, the stamina, the discipline and qualities of perseverance even in the face of the most adverse circumstances and unshakable faith in Providence for help and guidance that are most necessary for achieving one’s aims and objectives .’

15. Recalling his own past, Hamied stated, ‘ I have lived as a poor man with almost no means to sustain myself. I have slept on bare ground with a brick as my pillow. I have walked miles and miles for work entrusted to me when I was a volunteer in the Indian National Congress. I have travelled to and from Europe as a deck passenger, rubbing shoulders with labourers and coolies on the deck .’ During the last four decades of his life, he played an important role in raising the pharmaceutical and chemical industry standards in  India to an extraordinarily high level through founding the firm  Cipla . Dr Khwaja Abdul Hamied died in 1972 after a brief illness.

16. Patriotism Sacrifice Creating Opportunities Perseverance Kindness VALUES

17. Cipla is prominent Indian pharmaceutical company, best known for manufacturing low cost Anti AIDS drugs for HIV positive patients in developing countries Now Yusuf Khwaja Hamied , is a leading Indian scientist and The chairman of  Cipla Yusuf Khwaja Hamied CURRENT SCENARIO