Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Balvant K. Parekh - Z'L (His Memory a Blessing)

Balvant K. Parekh, founder of Pidilite Industries, major Indian philanthropist, founder of the Balvant Parekh Centre for General Semantics and Other Human Sciences in Vadodara, Gujarat, India, and winner of the IGS 2011 Talbot Winchell Award for service in the interest and promotion of general semantics, died on January 25 in Mumbai at the age of 89. Here is a short obituary.

He had been suffering from Parkinson's Disease for some time and although his condition had gotten worse in the last three months, he had looked forward to my visit to India which he had sponsored. We had been in close contact but I was not able to have a personal meeting with him before his unexpected death. A great and unfortunately rare human being, a humane and caring industrialist, he cared for people above profits, though his business profited greatly through his good works. He was greatly loved  by all of his employees from drivers and cafeteria workers to top-level managers. 

A serious student of korzybskian general-semantics, that work crystalized for him his own philosophy of dedicated service to his employees, customers, and humanity.  

Here is a 2007 video of Mr. Parekh speaking to a group of GS students in India on communication in business

Here is a link to an interview with him in a human resources magazine, Human Factors, where he explains his use of GS in his approach to HR (Human Resources) and in dealing with employees needs and concerns during M &A (Mergers and Acquisitions): "Employees Are the Jugular Vein."

May B. K. Parekh's legacy of good works live on. 


2 comments:

સુરેશ જાની said...

I shall be grateful, if I can get his bio data for making his brief profile on my Gujarati blog -
http://sureshbjani.wordpress.com/EUSCoos1714

Bruce Kodish said...

Hello Sir,
Best contact the Balvant K. Parekh Centre for General Semantics and Other Human Sciences for more information on their founder, Mr. B.K. Parekh.