The Gem of a jeweller!

Nikhil Ballal

Hailing from Nagaur, a district in Rajasthan, the Mutha family shifted and settled in Kalyan about five generations ago. Although their business was widespread, their headquarters always remained in Kalyan. Mutha Jewellers are known for their artistic jewellery in and around Kalyan. Prakash Mutha, who is also a leading political leader from Kalyan speaks to KYT about challenges and changes faced by the earlier generations, their new showroom and his political career. Excerpts…

Setting up the jewellery business

After traveling hundreds of kilometres in search of new pastures, the  Muthasstarted their jewellery business.Today, they have  eight showrooms in Kalyan and the ninth one was inaugurated in Badlapur recently.

Soon they diversified out in various sectors including construction, education, textiles, etc. “We have always believed that whichever business we enter in, it should be built on hard work and honesty.

If I’m taking Rs 1 from the consumer, I should at least give him backgoods or services worth 90 paise. Our aim was to work on these guidelines only and that is what our success mantra is,”simplifies Mutha.

The journey of Mutha Jewellery started about a century ago and Prakash Mutha’s father and uncles used to ride the horses and go from one village to another to make the sale. In those times, selective ornaments like bugadis, moti, bormala, bangdijod, vajratik, etc were popular. They used to sell these ornaments in the entire belt upto Igatpuri.

With changing times, Muthas started hiring craftsmen and had about 30 of them. However, with governmental norms, it became difficult for them to continue with the same. Now they prefer outsourcing it. The designing is still done in-house. “My niece is an excellent jewellery designer and she helps us. Moreover, there are so many catalogues available in the market. We also customise jewellery,” informs Mutha.

Mutha Jewellers is known for its service and Muthas personally take  care of it. Recently, Prakash Mutha started a showroom in Badlapur and it is the largest one in the entire Thane district.

Political career and faith in Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi had taken the country by storm and was adored by the majority of the country for her decision of liberating Bangladesh. These and more such stories inspired Prakash Mutha and he became her follower.

Prakash Mutha was in 11th grade when Indira Gandhi was arrested and jail bharoaandolanwas started. “Nakul Patil was our leader then. Under his leadership, we staged an agitation and our slogan was ‘aadhi roti khaenge, Indira kowapaslayenge’. I was arrested and imprisoned at Adharwadi prisonalongwith thousands of party workers. Though we were granted bail, we refused it and pledged to remain in the jail until Indira Gandhi was released. After Indiraji’s release, my political career started,” recalls Mutha. Mutha joined Indian National Congress and graced various designations at taluka, district and state level. He became the chairman of the education board of Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) in 1995.

Chairman of KDMC education board

Mutha realised that there was a lot can be done in this sector. The  students in the municipal schools usually belong to the economically backward section. He collected the service books of all the teachers teaching in these schools and assembled their retirement dates. He used to send their pension proposal for sanction to the KDMC six months prior to their retirement. This helped them get their dues on the last day of service. Women teachers were treated sympathetically by him. Mutha is remembered even today for his teacherfriendly attitude.

Formation of Mutha College

Mutha College is located in the outskirts of Kalyan. Ask Mutha about it and he says, “I wanted to have a huge piece of land in to start my school and college. I wanted to make good facilities available for the rural population too.”With the same idea, the foundation of SH Mutha College was laid in 2002. The full-fledged courses from arts, science and commerce and all the self-financing courses are taught in this college.

Love for construction

Though multi-business is his choice, construction is Mutha’s favourite. Considering better profits and fame, Muthas entered construction sector. “Though I’m not a civil engineer, I do have certain knowledge about the industry. Ours is the first 4 FSI project going on in Thane and one in Kalyan. This Kalyan project would witness the tallest building in Kalyan and has FSI of 10 lakhsq feet,” informed Mutha.

 

In the times when Prakash Mutha’s father used to visit villages to sell jewellery, they, at times, had to stay in the village. In order to protect their jewellery from the prancing eyes of the dacoits, they used to go out at night under some pretext and bury the jewellery under a tree.