Dayawati Modi (1915–1994) was the wife of the founder of Modi Enterprises,

Rai Bahadur RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Italy), Ministry of Eco ...

Gujarmal Modi. People she helped due to her altruistic nature colloquially referred to her as ''Maji'' as a sign of respect and gratitude. Her contribution towards the development of society in

Modinagar Modinagar is a town and a municipal board in Ghaziabad district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is a part of National Capital Region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surr ...

and elsewhere was underlined by her dedication towards uplifting the underprivileged and providing educational opportunities to women and children. She is the grandmother of

Lalit Modi Lalit Modi (born 29 November 1963) is an Indian businessman and former cricket administrator. He was the founder, first chairman and Commissioner of the Indian Premier League (IPL), and ran the tournament for three years until 2010. He also ser ...

, the founder of the

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(IPL).

Personal life

Dayawati Modi was born in

Kasganj Kasganj is a city and the district headquarters of Kasganj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The district was formed by grouping three Tehsils at 17 April 2008 . History Kasganj, which lies in the historical region of Braj, was al ...

—a small town in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. Daughter of Chheda Lal, Dayawati lost her mother at the age of three. Although not formally educated, Dayawati Modi had a penchant for literature, which led to her reading many books stored in her uncle's attic. This was the beginning of her long and fulfilling tryst with philanthropy in the education sector. On 19 June 1932, Dayawati Modi married Gujarmal Modi at the age of seventeen. This was Gujarmal Modi's second marriage, after his first wife died due a prolonged illness. Dayawati lived with her father initially, as Gujarmal set about establishing his business in erstwhile Begumabad. Thereafter, the couple had eleven children— five boys and six girls. Children are K.K Modi, V.K Modi, S.K Modi, B.K Modi ( Dr. M), U.K Modi. Deeply religious, Dayawati Modi was bestowed with various awards in recognition of her societal contributions.

Awards and recognition

* 1982– Shiromani Award for Sikh Studies * 1983– Kala Sangam Award * 1986– Bharat Seva Ratna by World Religious Parliament * 1978– Included by Cambridge University in their Who's Who of Intellectuals for the year.

Philanthropy

Apart from her massive contribution in the education sector, Dayawati Modi was instrumental in catering to women and children's issues in the mid-1950s. In 1954, she founded the ''Samaj Kalyan Parishad'' at

, which provided welfare services to women and children. The institution was at the forefront of uplifting the underprivileged by giving them access to education, vocational training and other allied support services. In honour of Dayawati Modi’s philanthropic contribution to society, her family instituted three awards: ''Dayawati Modi Kavi Shekhar Samman'', the ''Dayawati Modi Award for Art, Culture and Education'' and the ''Dayawati Modi Stree Shakti Samman''. High-profile recipients of the awards instituted by the Modi family since its inception include the

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, Kent Walwin, and Amitabh Bachchan. Since her death in 1994, the Dayawati Modi Foundation has carried on with the same altruistic principles, which governed Modi's life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Modi, Dayawati 1915 births 1994 deaths People from Kasganj People from Modinagar Dayawati 20th-century Indian philanthropists