The Indian Express<\/a>, Parekh, a Padma Bhushan recipient, said, \u201c\u2026as a natural course of thinking, after MSU, I was considering JNU and had explored all kinds of ideas. I did not know that they (Navrachna) were a possibility\u2026 I knew in my heart that I wanted my books to come back to Vadodara and to Gujarat\u2026\u201d<\/p>\nParekh, who is on a visit to Vadodara, said that eminent citizens like former Medical Council of India president Dr Jayshree Mehta and former MSU Vice-Chancellor Late KC Mehta had been involved in helping him find the right recipients for his rare and prized books.<\/p>\n
On the urgency to give away the books, Parekh told The Indian Express, \u201cI am 90 and like my dear friend Lord Meghnad Desai, who disappeared (passed away) three weeks ago at the age of 85, mortality is on everyone\u2019s mind. I also needed to dispose of these books to be able to sell my house and move to my younger son\u2019s home following my wife\u2019s death a few months ago\u2026 I simply could not bear the sight of the house I had lived in for 50 years, after my wife was gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stating that the section that will eventually come up in Navrachana University for his books will become a \u201ccentre\u201d for those interested in pursuing multiculturalism, Parekh said, \u201cAnybody interested in multiculturalism, Gandhi or the making of modern India, would need to come here and read those books\u2026 I fully trust that Navrachna will take care of these books and make sure that the rare ones are not given out on loan. Also, there is a committee, which will oversee the whole thing and will include two or three of my family members\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
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Among the titles that are close to Parekh\u2019s heart include two of his own works \u2014 Rethinking Multiculturalism, published by Harvard University Press in 2000, and Debating India, published by Oxford University press. \u201cApart from my own books, there are those that other authors have gifted to me because I have read their manuscripts. They have written personal notes to me\u2026,\u201d Parekh said. The collection includes a book by Economist Amartya Sen, who has signed it with a note, \u201cFor Bhikhu, with affection and admiration\u201d. Another book, Jihad vs McWorld by political theorist Benjamin Barber, has a note that reads, \u201cFor Bhikhu, with love and loyalty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parekh said, \u201cThere are also some books that are first edition, going back to the 17th Century like Protestantism (in England).\u201d<\/p>\n
Navrachna will now make arrangements to bring the books to India.<\/p>\n
\u201cBhikhubhai\u2019s outstanding contribution to political thought is quite seminal and in addition, the books collected by him during his lifetime is a curated library. For that to come to Navrachana University and more importantly, back to the city of Vadodara\u2026 it will lead to furthering his views and bringing out something new,\u201d Amin said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe will be creating a special area \u2014 a Lord Bhikhubhai Parekh section \u2014 and will plan annual lectures,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In July this year, the University of Oxford celebrated the life and works of Lord Bhikhu Parekh \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3938],"tags":[3444,77,54676,124484,124485,124483,16,15,29958],"class_list":{"0":"post-352585","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-house-of-lords","11":"tag-lord-bhikhu-parekh","12":"tag-navrachana-university-in-vadodara","13":"tag-parekh-library","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-university-of-oxford"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115046209983380528","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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