October 2, 2019 was the 150th anniversary of the birth (Jayanti) of Mahatma Gandhi. To mark this auspicious occasion, the Thakore Charitable Foundation, SFU Institute for the Humanities and the J.S. Woodsworth Chair in the Humanities at Simon Fraser University, and SFU Library presented a series of free public events, including the 28th Thakore Visiting Scholar Award and lecture by Canadian children’s performer and advocate Raffi Cavoukian.
SFU libraries also highlighted the 500+ Gandhi-related items in the circulating collection, including biographies and studies on non-violence and the Indian independence and showcased related items from the W.A.C Bennett Special Collections and Rare Books division.
We talked to three members of the family that, with a committee of helpers, organizes the annual Gandhi Jayanti events – Arvind (MSc ’73, BSc ’70), Harsh and Bhasker Thakore - about why they support SFU Library, their family ties to SFU, and what being involved in the Library means to them.
1. When did you get involved with SFU?
Arvind: I entered SFU in the spring of 1967 – I was 18 years old and had immigrated to Canada the previous year. I wanted to do my undergraduate and graduate degrees at SFU. Because of the semester system, I was able to start right away instead of waiting until the following September. And my father (Natverlal Thakore) was also working on his MA at SFU, and we lived nearby, so it made sense.
Harsh: I think I got involved in 1968. Both my kids, my brother, my sister and my father all went to SFU!
Bhasker: When my dad asked me to contribute to an endowment for SFU in around 1986 – 87 I had just graduated from dental school and bought a dental practice with my wife Nimisha. We were in a lot of debt. My dad and mom had made a commitment and they wanted me to match it. Just recently, I thought about that request and realized how smart my dad was – he was looking to me to continue his legacy. He believed in delegating to get things done!
2. What attracted you to SFU and the Library in particular?
Arvind: It was a new university, with young faculty, and a lot of community involvement. My father’s belief was that we should get involved in the community, and we did that at SFU – through the International Club, the Indian diaspora and the Theatre Club.
Bhasker: it was like home to us. We used to study at Bennett library, even though we were UBC students. I felt we need to give to and contribute to the place where you live, and to honour the values of that place. We wanted to do something that would honour the memory of our dad and that supported students and education. My daughter had been volunteering at the Library and it all made sense to us that we should make a gift to name a room at the Library after him. And now it is a beautiful open space with a portrait of my dad, and the Dean’s Lecture on Information and Society happens every year. We are awed that the speakers that the Library presents are so outstanding, and that our family has been able to help make that happen.
3. How would you describe our mission? What does it mean to you?
Arvind: I believe SFU Library is about supporting students and encouraging positive change in society.
Harsh: For us and for my father, the library has always been the central focus of the university. It contains the essence of knowledge, and every student uses it. My father always wanted something in the Library to commemorate Gandhi, and the (Thakore Events and Learning) room couldn’t be a better place.
4. Why do you volunteer your time or donate?
Arvind: Gandhi’s message was that everyone should strive to give back to society – that was my father’s belief and he instilled that in us.
Harsh: I started to see the benefits as I matured and as our kids were asking questions about the Gandhi Jayanti events, getting to know Gandhi’s history. As we got more involved, we could see a core of people who believed in peace, non-violence and kindness. If the Gandhi Jayanti events weren’t happening at SFU, we would have to go looking for that somewhere else.
Bhasker: Sometimes we look at other parts of the world as needing help but we have so many people right here in our community who are struggling and in real need. Like Gandhi helped the people in need in India to live with dignity, we too should help our community.
5. Did anyone in your life play a role in supporting your involvement? In providing inspiration?
Arvind: My father was inspired by Gandhi’s ideas and principles and he passed that inspiration on to us. We are a close family and when we were growing up, every night we would gather and read the writings of Gandhi and others. That is how those messages were passed onto us.
6. What are your activities and what do they involve?
Arvind: We were involved in a lot of community activities early on, such as the ethnic parade at the PNE, and in 1969 the UN had a march in honour of Gandhi’s 100th birthday. We were also involved in the India Club and through the Club, brought a bronze bust of Gandhi to Vancouver. At first we couldn’t find a home for it, until my dad, who was by that time teaching at SFU, had a conversation with George Suart, who was VP of Administration at the time, and Nini Baird, the head of the Centre for Communications and the Arts. They agreed that the bust should go in a green space near the Science wing, which is now called the Peace Square. We held the first Gandhi Jayanti garlanding ceremony there on Gandhi’s birthday, Oct 2, 1970.
My brother Bhasker and my father established a fund in 1989 to create the Thakore Visiting Scholars Award and Lecture, working with Jery Zaslove at the Institute for the Humanities. Our family wanted to create something that was meaningful for the community at large, not just the Indian diaspara. Something that would energize the community by discussing new ideas and honouring each year an individual and a student whose work demonstrated a commitment to Gandhi’s ideals of truth, non-violence, social justice, religious tolerance, education and ethics in politics.
Then in 2016 we made another gift through our family foundation to honour my father, who had passed away. So through that gift we created the Thakore Learning and Events Room, and the Dean’s Lecture on Information and Society. My father was a big believer in the power of education to make a better life. So we wanted to provide support for students and to encourage positive change in society. There is a lot of activity in that room, and the annual lecture energizes people I think, and provides access to new and challenging ideas.
7. What motivates you to stay involved?
Arvind: My family would like to make a contribution that makes a positive change – to live in a world that has peace and inclusion. Everyone can make positive change, even in a small way, if they decide to do that, and collectively all those small changes become big changes. That was one of Gandhi’s messages.
Bhasker: We all have a role to play in helping make our community and country a better place. We need to strive to fulfill that mission.
8. In your opinion, what is the most important work that SFU and SFU Library does?
Arvind: Well, many students spend more time in the Library than in any other place so it’s very important in their lives. It’s a repository of information that is free and accessible to all students, which is so important, and as well the Library provides programming that can shape the thinking of students and others.
Harsh: The Dean’s Lecture on Information and Society is so inspiring. When we first met with Dean Bird and she proposed the lecture series, we didn’t know what to expect. We provided support but let the Dean choose the content. After the first lecture, we felt confident that they were going in the right direction—that it was an opportunity for the Library to make inspired choices and present exciting speakers. To me it’s important to continue to learn and grow—to open yourself up to new ideas that will provide food for thought for many years.
9. What are the most critical results you expect our organization to produce?
Arvind: The Library can organize its systems to encourage and make it easier for students to access knowledge and to continue to bring in speakers with great ideas to share.
Harsh: SFU Library has evolved quite a bit since I first started coming up to the university many years ago, especially the community engagement aspect. I would like to see much more community engagement—and I hope the greater community, and especially the grassroots and ethnic communities, will be inspired to attend events like the Dean’s Lecture.
10. Of what contribution or achievement are you most proud?
Arvind: That we have been able to carry on the Gandhi Jayanti programming at SFU for so many years (the annual garlanding since 1970; the Thakore Lecture and Award since 2001). Money is easy to give if you have it, but it is more difficult to do something unique and thoughtful. Everyone in our family has rolled up their sleeves and taken ownership and responsibility to make it happen, which has been very fulfilling.
11. What do you hope SFU and SFU Library will achieve in the near future? In the long term?
Arvind: Expanding and making the Library more accessible for students, and continuing to program public events with authors and thought leaders.
12. What do you believe would most transform the Library?
Arvind: The Library renewal project is going to make a very big difference to the University.
Professor Deanna Reder welcomes audience at the Thakore Learning and Events Room.
2019 Mahatma Gandhi Annual Student Peace Award winner, Nyarika Kemo Sonko, and Thakore Visiting Scholar Raffi Cavoukian.