Abstract:
GHANSHYAM DAS BIRLA died in London on June 11, 1983, at the age of 89. Sunday magazine’s cover page dated June26-July 2, 1983, announced that ‘The King is Dead’. ‘The king is dead, Long live the king’ is a medieval European phrasal template that proclaimed the demise of a king’s mortal body and the people’s desire for the continuation of the body politic, which was the kingdom or the king’s legacy. Birla’s legacy hinges on at least three elements: his leadership of Indian industry; his role as a national and global emissary across the political spectrum, and his vision to empower the young through educational institutions that he founded.