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By:

Suhas B Naik-Satam

25 November 2025 at 7:54:38 pm

Arvind Parikh celebrates a century of music

Six decades of enriching India’s musical heritage A distinguished sitar maestro, Padma Bhushan awardee, musicologist, businessman and cultural ambassador enters his 100th year On the momentous occasion of his 99th birthday and entry into his 100th year, heartfelt greetings and warm felicitations to Pandit Arvind Parikh, an eminent sitar maestro whose extraordinary journey embodies the finest traditions of Indian classical music, intellectual curiosity, entrepreneurial vision and cultural...

Arvind Parikh celebrates a century of music

Six decades of enriching India’s musical heritage A distinguished sitar maestro, Padma Bhushan awardee, musicologist, businessman and cultural ambassador enters his 100th year On the momentous occasion of his 99th birthday and entry into his 100th year, heartfelt greetings and warm felicitations to Pandit Arvind Parikh, an eminent sitar maestro whose extraordinary journey embodies the finest traditions of Indian classical music, intellectual curiosity, entrepreneurial vision and cultural leadership. May this special birthday bring him abundant happiness, continued good health, peace and the affection of his family, friends, admirers and the entire musical fraternity. His remarkable life stands as an enduring source of inspiration for generations of musicians, scholars and professionals. Century of Life As Pandit Arvind Parikh enters his 100th year, Indian classical music celebrates not merely the longevity of an eminent musician, but also the remarkable journey of a man who has dedicated more than six decades to performance, scholarship, cultural dialogue and the preservation of India's rich musical heritage. A recipient of the prestigious Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honours, Pandit Parikh has earned recognition as an accomplished sitarist and a significant contributor to the intellectual and institutional development of Hindustani classical music. His life represents a rare confluence of artistic excellence, professional achievement and an abiding commitment to India's cultural inheritance. His contribution extends well beyond the concert stage. Through his association with eminent musicians, research into musical traditions, publications on ragas and compositions, and efforts to bring musicians together across traditions, he has helped strengthen the foundations on which Indian classical music continues to flourish. Musical Journey Pandit Parikh's musical development has been enriched by his association with several distinguished musicians, including B. R. Deodhar, Latafat Hussain Khan, Amir Khan, Niyaz Ahmad and Faiyaz Ahmad Khan, D. T. Joshi, and Radhika Mohan Maitra. These interactions provided opportunities for musical exchange and research, deepening his understanding of the diverse approaches, traditions and aesthetic principles that characterise Hindustani classical music. A defining influence on his artistic journey was his association with Ustad Vilayat Khan, one of the most influential sitar maestros of the twentieth century. His long musical apprenticeship under the maestro exemplifies the traditional guru-shishya parampara, in which knowledge is transmitted through sustained personal guidance, observation, listening and disciplined practice. This relationship provided Pandit Parikh with a profound grounding in the aesthetics and techniques associated with the Imdadkhani tradition, also known as the Etawah gharana. Cultural Recognition Pandit Parikh has performed extensively across India and internationally, appearing at music festivals in India and Europe and undertaking concert tours across West Asia, the Far East and Australia. His performances have introduced audiences from diverse cultural backgrounds to the expressive possibilities of Hindustani instrumental music. His regular association with All India Radio has also contributed to the dissemination of classical music beyond the concert hall. Pandit Parikh's sustained presence as a performer reflects the adaptability of classical music in a changing world. Musical Heritage Among Pandit Parikh's significant contributions is his work as a researcher, compiler and documentarian of Hindustani classical music. His publications, particularly Sitar Guru and Bandish Parampara, published by Navras Records in the United Kingdom, reflect his commitment to preserving and communicating musical knowledge. A raga is much more than a musical scale. It is a melodic framework governed by characteristic note patterns, movements, emphases and conventions that collectively shape its musical identity. A bandish is a composed piece that provides a structured foundation for improvisation and interpretation. The preservation of traditional compositions is particularly important because they carry historical and stylistic information. They can reveal how different musical lineages approach a raga, organise melodic phrases and balance compositional structure with improvisation. By compiling and documenting compositions and ragas, Pandit Parikh has helped make valuable musical material available to students, researchers and future generations of musicians. His work demonstrates how scholarship can complement performance. Documentation does not replace the oral tradition; rather, it can support the transmission of knowledge and provide important reference material for the study of India's classical musical heritage. Cultural Ambassador Pandit Parikh's contribution extends into cultural diplomacy and institutional leadership. He served as Vice-President of the International Music Council, associated with UNESCO, from 1994 to 1997. He has also served as president of the Indian Musicological Society and as chairman of the Western India chapter of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy. These responsibilities reflect his commitment to strengthening the institutions through which classical music is studied, practised and promoted. Recognising that the long-term vitality of Indian classical music depends on more than individual artistic excellence, Pandit Parikh has encouraged dialogue among performers, scholars, organisers, broadcasters and other stakeholders. He conceived and supported music forums in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi, providing platforms for members of the musical community to exchange ideas and discuss matters affecting the future of classical music. His efforts also extended to the All India Musicians' Group (AIMG), an initiative bringing together distinguished exponents of Hindustani and Carnatic music, including celebrated instrumentalists and vocalists. The initiative sought to create a stronger collective voice for classical musicians and encourage greater support from government, industry and the media. This work addresses a fundamental issue in the performing arts: the survival of a musical tradition depends not only on accomplished artists but also on opportunities for performance, access to education, institutional support and the economic well-being of musicians. By encouraging collaboration across musical traditions and professional boundaries, Pandit Parikh has contributed to a broader understanding of the responsibilities involved in preserving India's classical heritage. Artistic Vision Another remarkable dimension of Pandit Parikh's life is his professional achievement in business. His career demonstrates that artistic dedication and entrepreneurial enterprise need not be mutually exclusive. He has successfully combined the demands of a professional business career with the rigours of a lifelong commitment to music. Both fields demand discipline, perseverance, long-term planning and the ability to make informed decisions. His experience in business has complemented his cultural initiatives, bringing an organisational perspective to the promotion and preservation of classical music. His journey is a compelling example of a professional who has pursued commerce without relinquishing his artistic calling, demonstrating that the worlds of business and culture can enrich one another. Distinguished Journey Pandit Parikh's contribution to Indian classical music has received recognition from India's cultural institutions. His major distinctions include - Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honours. Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, recognising his contribution to instrumental music, particularly the sitar. Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, an important distinction acknowledging outstanding contributions to the performing arts. Gaurav Puraskar, recognising his contribution to the arts. Kumar Gandharva Rashtriya Samman, honouring his achievements in Indian classical music. These honours acknowledge different dimensions of his achievement, from artistic excellence to his wider contribution to India's musical and cultural life. Yet the significance of a long artistic career cannot be measured by awards alone. It is equally reflected in the knowledge preserved, the students guided, the institutions strengthened and the opportunities created for others to pursue their art. Next Generation The transmission of knowledge to younger generations remains central to the continuity of Indian classical music. Pandit Parikh's work as a teacher and mentor, together with his publications and musical research, has helped extend his influence beyond his own performances. His daughter, Purvi Parikh, is also a Hindustani classical vocalist, representing another link between family life and India's musical heritage. The guru-shishya parampara places great emphasis on personal guidance, close listening and sustained practice. At the same time, written resources, recordings and documented discussions can complement this traditional framework, allowing musical knowledge to reach a wider community. Pandit Parikh's efforts to combine traditional learning with systematic documentation are particularly relevant in an era when preserving intangible cultural heritage requires both continuity and thoughtful adaptation.

India waits to lasso diamantaire Mehul Choksi

Quaid Najmi
Apr 14, 2025
5 min read

Mumbai: India rubbed its hands gleefully as the Belgium Police honoured its request to arrest the absconder diamantaire Mehul Chinubhai Choksi – more than seven years after he, along with his nephew Nirav Deepak Modi - allegedly duped the Punjab National Bank of nearly Rs. 13,800-crores.

 

The scam involving the ‘Mehul Mama-Nirav Bhanja’ erupted in Jan 2018, after the PNB lodged a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

 

By then the kin, along with many of their family members, winked and slipped out of the country, leaving a rattled India rubbing its palms in disappointment.

 

A political-cum-financial storm raged, embarrassing the Bharatiya Janata Party government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi a year before the Lok Sabha elections.

 

Multiple agencies launched a multi-pronged probe into what became the biggest banking scam in the past quarter century – and almost four times bigger than the stock market-cum-banking fraud the late Big Bull Harshad Mehta had inflicted on the Indian economy 33 years ago (in April 1992) – when it was just opening up.

 

In Belgium

According to official reports, Choksi was living with his Belgium citizen-wife Preeti in Antwerp, a global diamond hub, presumably for the past 18 months on a ‘residency permit’ acquired through questionable means, for medical reasons.

 

Earlier, he shot to the headers (June 2021) while being taken in a wheelchair to a court by the Dominican Republic's Police on charges of sneaking into the small country in the Caribbean Sea, North America.

 

Interestingly, as the Antigua & Barbuda government initiated the process to cancel his citizenship acquired through an investor visa, Choksi had suddenly gone ‘missing’ till he surfaced in the Dominican Republic.

 

The April 2025 action by Belgium followed a request by India’s CBI and the financial frauds specialist Enforcement Directorate (ED) to nab Choksi as the InterPol had revoked his Red Corner Notice in 2023.

 

Mama and Bhanja

‘Mama’ Choksi is the founder-owner of Gitanjali Group while ‘bhanja’ Nirav’s Firestar plus other companies – and the duo, with some PNB officials hand-in-glove – conspired to make a ‘mamu’ of not only PNB, but other banks, as it subsequently tumbled out.

 

After making a quiet exit, Choksi was detected living in the verdant Antigua & Barbuda Isles (West Indies), then attempted entry to the Dominican Republic, was sent back to Antigua & Barbuda and then went to Belgium where he was nabbed on Sunday.

 

Similarly, Modi was found sauntering on the streets of London and nabbed in March 2019. He remains in jail there since India's extradition is still pending.

 

However, India is keeping its fingers crossed that it may finally lay hands on Choksi, bring him to India and face trial in the PNB scam, though it may take time.

 

Born in Mumbai (1959) and educated in Gujarat, Choksi, 66, and wife Preeti have three children.

 

The Rs. 13,800-crore PNB scam

In the modus operandi revealed after India’s second-largest PSU bank PNB admitted it was scammed, Choksi and Modi used fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoU) to get overseas credits or loans from Indian banks.

 

The PNB first informed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) of the fraud and then lodged a criminal complaint with the CBI in Jan. 2018, plus another CBI complaint in Feb, that led to a FIR against Modi and Choksi and their companies.

 

The ED entered the scene to probe the allegations of money-laundering through the LoUs – which they allegedly misused to avail short-term business finances from foreign branches of Indian banks.

 

The probe said that the duo were availing the LoUs from the PNB’s Brady House Branch from March 2011, and over the next six-seven years, managed to get a whopping 1,200-plus LoUs like a breeze with the help of some friendly bankers within.

 

Post-scam, the gold-diamond companies Gitanjali Group and Firestone Group with multiple operations in India and abroad have largely wound up, while some personal assets of the mama-bhanja have been auctioned to recover a part of the dues.

 

ED's plea to declare Choksi fugitive stuck for seven years

Even as absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi, a key accused in the Punjab National Bank loan fraud case, has been arrested in Belgium, the ED's plea to declare him a fugitive economic offender has been pending before a court in Mumbai for nearly seven years.


Choksi, 65, and his nephew diamantaire Nirav Modi are the prime accused in the Rs 13,000 crore PNB bank loan fraud case. Choksi was arrested in Belgium following an extradition request by Indian probe agencies, official sources said on Monday.


The Enforcement Directorate had filed the application in July 2018, seeking to declare Choksi an FEO and confiscate his assets under provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.


However, the matter has witnessed repeated delays owing to a barrage of applications filed by the accused in the PMLA court and the Bombay High Court alleging procedural lapses in the Enforcement Directorate's plea.


"The court is kept busy with frivolous applications, and hearing on our application to declare him (Choksi) an FEO has been adjourned for the past seven years,” an ED officer had said after the hearing was once again deferred this February.


"The court should have continued the hearing and taken a decision on the future course of action once the application was moved," the officer had said.

He had urged the court to take note of the repeated filing of similar applications and to not entertain them.


Choksi's lawyer had informed the court that the accused was undergoing treatment for suspected cancer in Belgium and intended to file an application in connection with his health.


Under the FEO Act, an individual can be declared a Fugitive Economic Offender if a warrant has been issued against him for an offence involving Rs 100 crore or more and he has left India while refusing to return. Once declared an FEO, the person's property can be confiscated by the investigating agency.


Choksi had challenged the ED's application in the Bombay High Court, alleging that the agency "had not followed proper procedure before filing the application and, hence, it stands vitiated".


However, in September 2023, the High Court dismissed his plea, ruling that the ED had adhered to the prescribed format under the FEO Act. It also vacated a stay on the special court's proceedings.


Despite this, the hearing on declaring Choksi FEO could not commence, with Choksi continuing to file applications before the special court through his lawyers.


While most of these pleas have been dismissed, a few remain pending. His latest attempt to stall proceedings through a plea to recall the notice issued on the ED's FEO application was rejected in December 2023.


According to ED officials, Choksi left India under suspicious circumstances in early January 2018.


Shifting stance

Choksi's counsel has argued that the ED kept shifting its stance on the material grounds for declaring him an FEO and that the suspension of his Indian passport made it impossible for him to return for investigation.

The court, however, rejected this argument, stating that the notice was issued based on accurate information and not based on "wrong facts or mistaken assumptions".


ED claimed the accused left the country under suspicious circumstances in the first week of January 2018.


Nirav Modi has already been declared as an FEO by the special court. He has been lodged in jail in London since 2019.

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