Padma Awardee Dr Parikh says American youth are more active in politics than their Indian counterparts.
"The Padma Shri came as a surprise. I never expected it," said Dr Sudhir M Parikh, his face lit up with excitement after he received the award from President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday.
Dr Parikh, a noted physician, was awarded the Padma Shri for his various humanitarian activities to improve the quality of life of people on either side of the Atlantic and enhancing Indo-US relations.
The affable Padma Shri awardee in a brief conversation with media persons, right after landing in the city, talked about his life, the role that youth can play and others things.
He also talked about the need to inculcate the element of humanitarianism among the people and giving back to the society. Talking about participation of youth in politics and social activities, Parikh said development can come only through youth participation.
However, Parikh said that the American youth are far ahead of their Indian counterparts as far as participation in politics and social activities is concerned.
"The American youth are generally perceived as the always partying kind. But the fact is that they also participate a lot in politics and social affairs. In that way, they are ahead of Indian youth. For example, recently my own daughter, who is 26 and her friends raised $50,000 for charity," said Dr Parikh.
However, he does empathise with the Indian youth's lack of interest in politics.
"I don't blame the Indian youths as they have many other immediate and pressing problems to handle," said Dr Parikh.
Telling about how he got to be what he is Parikh said that his father was in the civil service. "As a result I changed school every three years due to his frequent transfers. This facilitated me to study in various kinds of schools and meet many people at an early age. This exposure and understanding probably is the reason behind me being a people's person today," he said. Parikh said that parents can inculcate humanism in their children.
"Parents and their way of upbringing play an important role in inculcating humanism in children. If they don't learn it young, they might not get it later on," said Parikh.
On giving back to his motherland, Parikh, now an American citizen said he owes a lot to India. "It was in India that I studied MBBS, which was heavily subsidised. I always believed that once I became a success I would repay the gratitude," said Parikh.
Parikh, who flew straight to Ahmedabad after receiving the award, will spend 4 days in the state. He plans to meet people from his fraternity, friends and relatives and chief minister Narendra Modi.
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