Everyone in a Democracy has two rights “to choose” or “to be chosen”, I am ready to use the latter because I believe in this nation and its people…in a candid chat with Mr Parth Pareek
“One day back in childhood, I saw someone’s visiting card holding nine different degrees and so I decided then and there itself to pursue one more than that....”
Mr. Parth Pareek
“One day back in childhood, I saw someone’s visiting card holding nine different degrees and so I decided then and there itself to pursue one more than that....”
This one little excerpt tells you almost all there is to know about him. A man who wants to be second to none, he set out to achieve an improbable target and apparently it turned out that he really went onto doing that. A final year law student willing to pursue 10 degrees with CA, JD, LLB, LLM, CPA,ACCA among others. He is a state level Cricketer, a 5 year professional trainee of Indian Classical Music, an ardent MUNer ( has done over 120+ MUNs so far) and a soon to be published author who sees himself as a future politician; Mr Parth Pareek as he says, “is just another average person” residing in the alluring Pink City of Rajasthan.
Born and brought up in Jaipur, Parth is an alumnus of Delhi Public School and has high regards for the institution as he claims it to be “the best thing that ever happened to me, 'kyunki Mere school ke dost aaj bhi mere best friends hain’ ”.
When asked about the actual reason behind pursuing such varying degrees, Parth replied by arguing that one should never lose on his childhood ambitions while being mature as he quotes,“Apparently we decide to mature by quitting our childhood aspirations and that is not correct. Ab Virat Kohli ko he dekh lo, he is not even a graduate. According to today’s scenario, he is unemployable, but he had a childhood ambition which he didn’t let bury in the staircase of maturity thus making him lead India in tests.”
When asked about his views on time management, he says, “It is probably the easiest thing to do”. He believes that managing time isn’t difficult at all and advises to “live in the moment”. He believes that one should not bound himself in a strict and tight schedule and be harsh upon themselves as he claims that, “Nature has made us whimsical through evolution and its always better to cater to momentary interests, for instance, if I would like to stare at this wall for 10 minutes, then I will, because that will later help me to increase my productivity.”
How it all started?
It tracks back to almost a decade and a half ago when he witnessed a speech during the ‘no-confidence motion’ against Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998. Remembering an extract from his speech“...When I came to this house, it wasn’t that I became ecstatic when I was told that I have become the Prime Minister of India, I didn’t dance on the street shouting eureka. The day when I will quit all this and go back home, I won’t cry, but there’s one right I have and that is to serve the holy mother land, which no member of this house, not even the speaker, not the president and not even the entire house or India’s population can take away from me..” he mentioned that this one speech, “entirely changed” his perspective and inspired that 6-year-old to choose politics as his career.
He believes that the government has the best resources to make a constructive change which no Charity or NGO can do. He said that a constructive change can be brought when you become a part of the organisation which is supposed to bring the change; a change up to a level where it actually ‘matters’.
A big supporter of the centre-right wing and a huge admirer of Atalji, Parth regrets on the current condition of the Indian political system and is even more saddened by the fact that our new MTV generation has “intellectually” decided to leave politics in the hand of not-so-right people. He believes that with the kind of global and technological exposure we receive in this era of information we could put all this knowledge to use and make this nation a better place to live in. As he quotes that, “when you die, people won’t remember you by your profession, for instance, say Mahatma Gandhi was not a good barrister, not a good lawyer, not even a good orator initially, but he did one thing right, that he decided to change the world and now even after 68 years of his death( which I would like to mention was by far the largest procession to be telecasted live on radio and television), he still is the father of nation. People may or may not agree with his ideology, but shall agree with his knack; his will to CHANGE THE WORLD”.
MUN’s and his Journey!
Parth did his first MUN way back in grade 7 representing a country (Rwanda) that he doubted even existed; without a single clue of the happenings around and wondering of, “what food will they serve the next day?”,he recalls his first experience as a “terrific one”. But eventually, a bit of motivation from the Chairperson led to him having some insights into, “Restoration of Artefacts” (the agenda of the conference) and what came next marked the commencement of an exciting journey ahead, a High Commendation (2nd position) Award at the Conference held at the Indian Habitat Centre.
Parth considers MUNs as an integral part of his life and suggests everyone participate in it. He believes that MUNs “build totally new perspectives” and we get to know the other side of the story. He further emphasised on the need to create awareness through such stimulatory debates and conferences so that the “abuses during the dinner table could be minimised” he chuckled.
“ ‘Sarkar kaam nahi karti’, ‘Ghar ke samne gaddha hain’ aren’t we acquainted with phrases like this?” he argued. “I bet we are. In fact, you, me and all of us at some point of time have certainly been a part of such ‘intellectual’ conversations” he added. People need to understand that in a country of 125 crore people, with exponential rates of population increase laced up with illiteracy, it is very difficult to manage such a huge chunk of crap. Suggesting a solution to this problem he spoke about the two rights of democracy, namely the Right to choose and the Right to be chosen; while the former one is exercised pretty well but the latter one, “not quite so”, he regrets.
He concluded his views by arguing that, “why to choose the less evil?” Why not go and be chosen? He said that if one thinks that Lalu Prasad Yadav is not educated enough, “are we”? And if we are, then are we “competent enough”? And if we are then, “why are you still sitting at home?” “Go out and be chosen”, he concluded.
Politics is a dirty game! Comment!
Agreeing with the fact, Parth does believe the same and argues that if it wasn’t so then there would have been no obvious reason for the young of age to enter it. According to him, politics used to be a “noble profession”. Even in a democracy, the prime minister was considered as the king, though transitional, but he was perceived as the “man with bona fide intentions for the masses at large” he recalled. But gradually, things changed, and the very realisation of the uncertainty of their throne made these “representatives” change the paradigm of politics from ‘Service’ to ‘Selfish’.
Talking about the Indian political system, Parth presumes that, it has changed a long way, and “has only come down”since then. Mentioning the example of the current Defence Minister of India, Mr Manohar Parrikar, he also said that, “all political leaders are not bad” and in fact “most of them are honest and are determined to bring the change”. All we require is some more participation, i.e. “this is the time to take our brooms out and clean the system” because as they say to clean the gutter one needs to go in the gutter.
I am a normal being, just “another average person”!
Well, it turned out that not only politics but Parth has a knack over a lot of other stuff as well. As mentioned earlier, a keen sports enthusiast, Parth is an ardent follower of Manchester United (who wears the “jersey from Old Trafford on every match” he chuckles) and a big fan of Cricketer Sourav Chandidas Ganguly, (or as he says ‘DADA’)Parth considers him (DADA) as the biggest revolution in Indian Cricket specifically mentioning the ‘Perth Waca incident against Jason Gillespie in Australia’.
When asked further about his future interests or plans, he revealed his desire to introduce Youth Parliaments and MUN’s among the deprived section of the society and is determined to conduct such conferences more often. Recalling an incident from the past where an 8th grader studying in a government school totally amazed him by his orating skills he told us that “That’s where we can get grassroots leaders and there’s no reason that they should be deprived of this opportunity” .“The way he held the Mic in front of 600 people without any prior experience and started talking with a swagger; the way he articulated his facts was just stunning.” he added.
Further recalling an incident, our aspiring politician appreciated the tendency or willingness of this country to CHANGE, and CHANGE for better as he stated his experience of convincing an ST (Scheduled Tribes) local tribal community to give up on their reservation. He told that he was able to convince almost 80% of them and was even supported by the community to help him convey his message in their local dialect.
When asked about his inspiration, he claims his father to be one and always remembers him saying “I have played my innings. And I have played it with utmost respect and dignity and have earned enough money to sustain myself until I die, and people respect me enough that when I die it won’t be a lonely death; so it’s all about you now, whatever decision you take, take it with a broader perspective and then don’t back out”. Not only his father but our Superman has many people to admire, quoting about the “Joining the dots theory” of his former principal, the current Director of DPS Jaipur, Mr.Kul Bhushan Kain, Parth specifies that he doesn’t regret any of his decisions and revels in all experiences of his life because as his teacher said, “that these moments, these incidents are dots, and when you join them to get a line that is LIFE.”
Being an avid reader Parth advises every person to read “everything and anything”. From Madhurima to Grihsobha ,from Paulo Coelho’s Alchemist to Dan Brown. “Read everything that you come across, because every book, every novel, every journal, every author, has something to tell you” he added.
Mentioning about his daily KICK he talks about the plight of those little innocent kids begging at those traffic signals as he said: “If that doesn’t inspire you enough then nothing in this world can possibly do.”
Last but not the least our hero wanted to convey a message to the youth :
"This continuous quest for passion is not necessary. Just do things and somehow you will stumble upon it. When confused, do listen to your parents; that might not always help but it won’t harm for sure. Never ever be afraid to start (or try) something NEW because if people would have gotten afraid then there would never be any Bryan Adams learning photography even after being a successful singer, guitarist, writer among others. Never be reluctant to switch, because passion develops over time. …and as Gandhi ji said ‘...be the change you want to see in the world, and create the change you want to be’ "
