' IIT-B, hostel 4, room no. 166': A place where Manohar Parrikar dreamt of joining politics

Common man's minister Manohar Parrikar passed away on Sunday at the age of 63 after battling a pancreatic ailment since over a year.

Parrikar was alumnus of IIT Bombay. He did B. Tech. (MET) from the famed institute and was loved by all in the campus. Parrikar studied from 1973 to 1980 in the campus. His classmate for years and now professor at IIT-B, Amol Gokhale remembers him as a student who was always inclined towards politics. 

In an exclusive interview with Zee News, Prof. Amol Gokhale said, "I spent the year 1973 to 1978 with him. I used to live in hostel 7, he used to lived in hostel 4. Parrikar's canvas was much bigger than IIT, and after Emergency in 1975, his desire to join politics became even more determined. The political meetings in campus during that time was organised by him. At that time he had organized a meeting of Subrahmanyam Swamiji."

In the hostel no. 4 of IIT-B,  Manohar Parrikar dreamt of joining politics. During his student days at IIT-B, he fought against management for salary of mess employees, said Gokhale. 

In 2017, Parrikar addressed the 55th convocation of the Mumbai-based institute where he told the graduates to take up jobs in social and development sectors.

An alumnus of the famed institute, he also asked students to join politics and the Army, said a former IIT-B student who was present at the convocation ceremony.

"Why can't IIT graduates, who have had the best engineering education in the country, take up academics and run some of these colleges, and transform their quality?" Parrikar had then said.

The institute in its condolence message said Parrikar's demise came as a shock to them.

"He was the institute's distinguished alumnus and keenly involved with many initiatives at IIT Bombay. He was also deeply involved with the launch of IIT Goa," it said.

On the Alumni Day in 2014, IIT-B felicitated Parrikar, who graduated in metallurgical engineering from the institute in 1978, in recognition of his contribution to the development of the country.

The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) will hold a condolence meet on Monday evening to pay tributes to their alumnus, Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who died after a long illness.