Sarla Birla

Dr. Sarla Birla (November 23, 1923 – March 28, 2015)^[2] was an Indian educationalist who was the founder of about 45 educational institutions supported by the Birla family. She was the daughter of the freedom fighter Brijlal Biyani, daughter-in-law of the pioneering industrialist GD Birla and the grandmother of billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla.

Biography

In April 1941, she married Basant Kumar Birla, the son of GD Birla, after having been introduced to each other by Jamnalal Bajaj and Mahatma Gandhi.^[3] They are sometimes referred to as the "first couple of Birla empire".^[4] They had a son, Aditya Vikram Birla, and two daughters, Jayashree Mohta and Manjushree Khaitan. Her only son Aditya Vikram Birla died early in 1995.

Philanthropy

Raja Ravi Varma, Menaka and Sakunthala (1891), Birla Academy of Art and Culture in Kolkata

She had made notable contributions through her social and institutional activities and took an active part in their working. She had been associated as governor, trustee, or otherwise by establishing the following institutions:

• Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani
• BK Birla Institute of Engineering & Technology, Pilani
• Mahadevi Birla World Academy
• Mahadevi Birla Shishu Vihar
• Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Calcutta
• Swar Sangam, Calcutta
• Sangit Kala Mandir, Calcutta
• Sangit Kala Mandir Trust, Calcutta
• Birla Bharati, Calcutta

Her collection of Indian art, including that on display at the Birla Academy of Art and Culture in Kolkata, ranks amongst India's notable private collections. The Sangit Kala Mandir, besides the Birla Academy of Art and Culture, were both set up by the couple.^[5]

Life

Sarala was born the daughter of Brijlal Biyani, a freedom fighter and Congress Party worker in an unusually progressive family that even 70 years ago believed that girls must be educated. Their marriage was an arranged match made by their parents, facilitated by Jamnalal Bajaj and Mahatma Gandhi.^[6] Sarala recalled:^[7]

"I was studying in Pune, Ferguson College, and I got a message that I have to go to Bombay, to Birla house, to see the boy. I went there, I was there for one night and there were so many boys there, I did not know who was who; I stayed there and I came back. After two-three months, I got a call from Gandhiji and my father-in-law telling me to come to Wardha. I went there from Pune and father (Ghanshyam Das Birla) asked me, 'you have seen Basant and you have not yet replied whether you are ready to marry him or not.' I said, 'No, there were eight-ten boys, so I didn't know who was who.' Then I said that I won't marry a boy unless I see him and I know who he is. Gandhiji said, 'she is perfectly right,' and then he said that we will arrange a meeting between you - you please come again. So I said, 'when I have my holidays, only then will I come.' Father was so nice, he said, 'alright.' So, when I had my holidays, I went, and we met on November 8."

Basant Kumar Birla agrees, "I told my colleagues, I am an interested in a girl who was educated and as she was educated - even without seeing her, I had approved her."

Although raised in a progressive family, Sarala often at husband's side for 73 years. She was 91 years old, but it was a familiar sight to see her holding her husband's hand during family functions, and accompanying him to the annual general meetings of various group companies. ^[8]

On March 28, 2015, she was in Delhi to attend a function marking the 121st anniversary of GD Birla. She was injured in a minor accident involving her wheelchair and the lift (elevator), and died as a result of old-age related heart failure. She was 91.^[9]

See also

• Birla Family
• Sarala Birla Academy

References

External links

• The Story Of Basant And Sarala Birla, Aaj Tak, April 5, 2015
• The XII Science Assembly, Sarala Birla Academy, Jun 20, 2013