Monk who became king of rum

Kapil Mohan, the man credited with making Old Monk the largest selling brand in India, passed away recently. For a man who brought cheers to millions, Mohan was believed to drink sparingly, with some accounts claiming he was a teetotaller.

Before venturing into his family business, Mohan was a decorated army officer and was also honoured with the Padma Shri in 2010.

Mohan Meakin, the company he headed since 1973, has a colourful past - it was a merger of two companies, one of which was founded by Edward Abraham Dyer, father of the infamous Reginald Dyer, who ordered firing on unarmed protestors in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar in 1919.

It was under Mohan's stewardship of the company that it diversified into non-alcoholic beverages, such as fruit juices and mineral water, as also breakfast cereals.

Old Monk came into being in 1954, reached a peak of 7.9 million cases a year in 2002, before it was overrun by McDowell's No. 1 Celebration rum.

He was a Brigadier at the time of his retirement from the Indian Army and was a recipient of the Vishisht Seva Medal.

Old Monk at one time was the largest selling dark rum in the world - no mean feat for a home-grown brand. That achievement was solely Kapil Mohan's.