The Vishwa Gujarati Samaj (VGS) has conferred the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Vishwa Pratibha award on Lord Bhiku Parekh. The award was given to him on Thursday evening in a ceremony at the Gujarat Sahitya Parishad.
The VGS also conferred the Distinguished NRI award on four people - Gujarati language expert Dr Jagdish Dave from UK; US-based businessmen Piyush Patel and Sunil Nayak; and Belgium-based diamantaire Paresh Sanghvi.
The function was attended by the who's who of the Gujarati diaspora. Notably, despite several decades abroad, all speakers delivered their address in Gujarati. Lord Parekh said, "If they feel the government of the state is not 'Gujarati', they should be willing to say it's a government of Gujarat but not a Gujarati government. Gujaratis have taken their cultural capital wherever they have gone. Gujarat is a vision; it is the idea of Gujarat that inspires. A real Gujarati is one who can spread and defend Gujarati culture wherever he goes."
Dr Dave said the honour bestowed by the award is not restricted to him alone. He dedicated it to all those who had worked to spread the language in different forms among different people, like a mother who teaches her children.
Chief guest at the event, former IIMA director Bakul Dholakia, introduced an interesting perspective when he said that NRGs had made a significant contribution to absorbing the impact of the economic crisis and were helping world economies to recover from recessionary times. "Just as Gujarat plays an important role in keeping economic crisis at bay, NRGs, who are a substantial number among NRIs, are the key to riding out the economic crisis," he said.
