Bose, Hemendra Mohan
Bose, Hemendra Mohan (1864-1916) entrepreneur and first Indian to manufacture and market gramophone records. Born at village Jaysiddhi, mymensingh, in 1864, Hemendra Mohan Bose studied at calcutta medical college. But instead of taking up a medical career, Bose started distilling perfumes with a business patent called Bose-Perfumers in 1894. Bose was successful instantly.
Bose soon added hair oils and other toiletries to his merchandise and set up a factory at 6 Shib Narayan Das Lane, Kolkata. By 1900, he had also established a printing and publishing house called Kuntaline Press, 5 Shib Narayan Das Lane. He had also established India’s first bicycle manufacturing plant, competing with foreign bicycles. However, all of Hemendra Mohan Bose’s previous business achievements were overshadowed by his success in manufacturing and distributing gramophone records in India.
He was the first Indian to borrow the western gramophone manufacturing technology and establish a gramophone recording company in Kolkata in 1900. His product came to be known in the market as 'H Bose's Records'. Through his records, the recitations, speeches and interviews of Sir jagadish chandra bose, Sir prafulla chandra ray, Professor Surendranath Moitra, rabindranath tagore and dwijendralal roy have been conserved. H Bose's record discs were released in hundreds from 1907. The demand for H Bose's Records grew to such an extent over time that he became a national celebrity. His records were also called 'Swadeshi records', because, he was a Bengali entrepreneur and many of his records were on the swadeshi movement and nationalism. Bose died on 28 August 1916. [Sirajul Islam]
