A product of the 1942 Quit India movement, a Gandhian and a Socialist who remains closely connected with grassroot movements, Dr G G Parikh remains a familiar figure in Maharashtra.
It is a rare occasion when a legend celebrates his 100th birthday. Hundreds of admirers sat for two-and-a-half hours in the sweltering heat as speaker after speaker spoke of the institution that is Dr G G Parikh, in the institution that he had built: The Yusuf Meherally Centre in Panvel.
A product of the 1942 Quit India movement, a Gandhian and a Socialist who remains closely connected with grassroot movements, Dr G G Parikh remains a familiar figure in Maharashtra, specially in Mumbai and Panvel, where he has set up institutions such as the Janata Kendra and the Yusuf Meherally Vidyalaya (Tardeo) and the Yusuf Meherally Centre which works for rural development on Gandhian lines (Panvel).
Yusuf Meherally was the freedom fighter who coined the slogan 'Angrez Bharat Chhodo, Quit India'.
On Monday, December 30, 2024 a galaxy of well-known personalities spoke of what an inspiration "GG" was. Some like former Bombay University vice-chancellor Bhalchandra Mungekar said how rare it was today to find someone before whom you could bow your head. "GG' is one such," he said.
Others like veteran journalist Kumar Ketkar said how unworthy he was of the honour of being seated next to "GG" on stage, and wished him 25 years of his own life to carry on inspiring others.
There were youngsters and elders in the audience; one of them, brought in a wheelchair, was the wife of one of "GG's jail colleagues in the Quit India movement.
But the most compelling speaker was the birthday boy himself.
As he always does, "GG" credited the circumstances in which he was born and grew up in for moulding him.
"Had I not been born during the freedom movement, had I not gone to jail in 1942 and been showered with affection by stalwarts there, had I not come under the influence of Gandhiji, I would not have become what I have, " he said.
Dividing his life into the personal, political and social, he said the latter two were closely intertwined. After coming out of jail in 1942, he had wanted to live his life as a "soldier of Socialism". He felt he had done so to a large extent.
As for his personal life, his father's decision to make him a doctor had enabled him to abide by a decision he had made early on: That he would survive on his own earnings. Gandhiji's advice: Keep as much as you earn for your needs, but also give back to society, had inspired him to set up social institutions, with the help of his Socialist colleagues.
But as he entered his 101st year, "GG" also took a candid look at his life in front of all his admirers. Recalling that Jayaprakash Narayan had once discussed his life with an "ordinary worker" like him, asking him: "Where did I go wrong?", "GG" also asked the audience, "Where did I go wrong?"
He then went on to share two painful episodes of his life, wherein two of his young acquaintances committed suicide. He had never been able to stop wondering if he could have prevented those suicides by doing things differently.
"Our freedom movement and Gandhi created a crop of patriots who could give their lives for the country's independence. But after we became independent, these sensitive souls could not bear any deviation from the ideal," he said.
The biggest example of this was the suicide of Sane Guruji, freedom fighter, social activist, author. Everyone eulogised him almost as a saint, but why did no one talk about the reasons for his suicide, asked "GG" in anguished tones, recalling that the legendary Socialist leader had been brought to the KEM hospital while "GG" was a student there, but the doctors could not save him.
The veteran Socialist also expressed regret that the Socialist Party had not succeeded in attracting today's youth to socialism, except for a few.
Recounting that he had worked for the Socialist Party's victory in the first general elections, "GG" revealed that the experience had made him realise that electoral politics was not for him. "You have to make too many compromises. What use is power if it comes after having compromised your principles?" he said.
That was why, after the Emergency, though many party supporters wanted him to fight elections, and he could have got a ticket for the asking, he didn't ask for one.
"Parties become soft once they come to power and you can't get anything done when your cadre is soft," said "GG", advising his listeners to reject the idea that political power was necessary to bring about change.
"If you have integrity, you don't need power. We have the numbers, we can think of creative programmes which won't be stopped by the government. That will bring change."
A surprise guest at the function that was dominated by Socialists was Shiv Sena (UBT) veteran Subhash Desai, who had fought elections against Socialist Party candidates in the past. In fact, Socialists were always at the receiving end of Saamna's editorials when Bal Thackeray was alive. In a sign of the changed equations in Maharashtra, Desai presented a shawl and a bouquet to Dr G G Parikh on behalf of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
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