The air filled with sadness and grief was flowing at the Birla Park Residence on Saturday Morning, as the well known industrialist KK Birla had passed away there, after seeing 90 years of the world. The man had reportedly been ill from past few days.

He was the family patriarch of the Birla family and was born on November 11, 1918 at Pilani in Rajasthan.

Just on July 29, his wife Manorma Devi had passed away and now after brief period of only a month, Mr. Birla passed away. He was survived by three daughters, Nandini Nopany, Sobhana Bhartia and Jyoti Poddar, and was member of parliament for more than 18 years.

He used to be addressed as ‘K.K. Babu’ by his friends, including dignitaries like West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, leaders from political parties and corporate chiefs, who were all present at the family residence in South Kolkata to pay their last tribute to this parting soul.

“Krishnakumarji, as he was affectionately known, was an acute observer of national and international events and made important, though discreet, contributions to public policy, including economic policy. I offer my tribute to the memory of an outstanding social engineer, an innovative newspaper-owner and industrialist,” expressed Mr. Gandhi in a statement.

R.P. Goenka, who was also quite low at K.K. Birla’s departure, reported, “Amongst the business, I respected him the most.”

Sanjiv Goenka, vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises, expressed his grief, “He has been the kind of person that legends are made of. His passing away is a loss not only to industry, but the whole nation.”

K.K., son of Ghanshyam Das Birla, was one of the finest industrialists of the nation and many corporate chiefs took him as their mentor, and consulted him for any guidance. His industrial empire produced, fertilizers, chemicals, heavy engineering, textiles and sugar, and the man himself was chairman of number of companies, like Chambal Fertilizers, Zuari Industries, Texmaco, Oudh Sugar and Hindustan Times.

The man was also the Chancellor of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BIRS), Pilani. The standards of this institution had often been equated with that of the IITs.
Regarding the education, K.K Birla did his schooling from Kolkata and Delhi, and his higher education took place between Calcutta University and Punjab University. Pondicherry University had even awarded him the D. Litt.

He was also the founder of K.K. Birla Foundation, which awards those who deliver excellence in arts, philosophy, literature, scientific research and sports.
The man also achieved a really good name in the field of literature. One can get to know a lot about him through his autobiography, “Brushes with History.” Other titles written by him include, ‘Indira Gandhi: Reminiscences,’ and ‘Partners in Progress - Collection of Selected Speeches and Writings.’ He even contributed a lot to Hindi literature and journalism.