Bimla Poddar, social worker, philanthropist and matriarch of the Poddar-Neotia family, passed away in Varanasi on May 14. She would have turned 89 this August.

She is the founder of Jnana Pravaha, a Varanasi-based centre for cultural studies engaged in efforts to preserve India’s cultural heritage. She received the Padma Shri in 2015.

“She died around 10.30pm. She was cremated at Varanasi,” said a spokesperson for the Ambuja Neotia Group.

Lovingly called Bari Ma, her passion for classical music was well known.

“I was not born to her, but she was more than a mother to me… When my grandmother passed away in 1991, Bari Ma became the matriarch of our family, the centre around whom we all gathered… Hers was a life of purpose, grace and gentle strength,” Harshavardhan Neotia, her nephew and chairman of the group, said in a message.