New Delhi, March 28 (IANS): Sarala Birla, wife of prominent industrialist and Birla group patriarch B.K. Birla, passed away on Saturday in her house here due to old age complications, family sources said. She was 90.
She died at around 9:30 a.m. and her body will be taken to Kolkata on Sunday for cremation at Keoratala Burning Ghat, the sources said.
Married to B.K. Birla since 1942, she is survived by two daughters Jayshree and Manjushree and her husband, now 94 years old. Their son Aditya Vikram died in 1995.
Sarala, together with her husband, had played an active role in founding 45 educational institutes in the country like Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Ashok Hall Group of Schools, Mahadevi Birla World Academy, G.D. Birla Centre for Education, B.K. Birla Institute of Engineering and Technology and others.
The sources said she exhibited a passion for swimming and horse riding in her early life apart from excelling in academia.
An acknowledged linguist, she developed a keen interest in the French language in the later part of her life and continued with the study.
She was born to Brijlal Biyani, a respected freedom fighter, and Savitri Devi on November 23, 1924 at Kuchhaman in Rajasthan.
Deeply fascinated by Mahadevi Verma and Harivansh Rai Bachchan's writings, she was also very close to renowned personalities including Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle and Dev Anand.
Besides, she was closely associated with Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and the Dalai Lama.