The Beginning
A century-old dream.
100 years mean a whole lot of reflection on the years left behind, a whole lot of planning for the ones ahead. For us, it also means a whole lot of gratitude. To all our customers, who kept us going, year after year, and to all those who didn't let the principles of the Swadeshi movement and our affiliation to it, flicker, our heartiest "Thank you."
The beginning
December 14th, 1905 was no ordinary day. The great Indian patriot, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, along with eminent industrialist and businessman Munmohandas Ramji conceived the idea of The Bombay Swadeshi Co-operative Store Co. Ltd. Tilak, by this time, had already established himself as the spearhead of the Swadeshi movement.
A man of fiery idealism and indomitable courage, he famously declared:
'Swaraj is my birthright and I will have it'. Widely acclaimed as the ' Father of Indian Unrest', Tilak started the Home Rule League and championed the cause of freedom from alien rule.
Seconding their approval for the formation of the Swadeshi Stores were Sir Ruttonji Jamshedji Tata, Sir Dwarkadas Dharamsey, Gordhandas Khatau and Balwant Ramchandra Natu, the men who went on to become the first directors of the company.
As a belief, a concept, an ideal, 'Swadeshi' meant an awakening of the nation’s collective consciousness. Patronising all that was Swadeshi meant a direct reassertion of the freedom struggle.
The Swadeshi Store, by storing indigenously made products, gave the people an idea of what their homeland was capable of producing. Space was hired in the present 'Times of India' building in Bombay and the first Bombay Swadeshi Store was inaugurated by India's Grand Old Man, Dr. Dadabhai Naoroji, on 17th December 1906.
