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Ganga Prasad Birla, born in Banaras in 1922, would have an acumen for promoting education and human resources in the state he would come to live (and love), West Bengal. He was the first graduate in the large, industrial Birla Family, he would not be of the fame like his brothers and uncles and cousins - instead, he would make his name in philanthropy.

Joining the board of Orient Paper and Industries in 1942, he would climb its ranks to become its chairman in 1957. While he acquired his expertise, he would also have a vision to form a car company, the Hindustan Motors (of Ambassador fame) in 1969. But his heart would continue to be in education, forming the Birla Institute of Technology in Ranchi, and the Birla Archaeological and Cultural Institute as well.

The Modern High School For Girls would be founded as well, and the GP Birla educational scholarship, to give aid to students in West Bengal to pursue their college education, an institution which still survives till date. He would also fund hospitals and medical research institutes like the BM Birla Heart research Institute and the Calcutta Medical Research Institute.

Giving grants for temples, historical places and architectural marvels to be restored, in regions as far as Jaipur, Bhopal and Hyderabad, he would live a life of avid interest in preserving the heritage of the country, and education promotion, for which he would be awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2006.

 In a twist of irony, he would suffer twin heart attacks by 1981, pulling out of active business life, and giving much of his works out to his son CK Birla. He would pass away on the fifth of March 2010, having sealed a legacy of a kind, talent-rewarding philanthropist and a preserver of Indian heritage.

Ganga Prasad Birla, founder of the Birla Institute of Technology, the Birla Archaeological and Cultural Institute and the Modern High School for Girls, passed away today in 2010