Arvind was born in Ahmedabad into a Gujarati business family with cultural and spiritual influences. His father was a businessman and mother was a painter. His primary and secondary education continued in a nationalist school. In 1944, at the age of 17, he moved to Mumbai and started learning from sitar player Vilayat Khan. Per Khan's wish Parikh entered Bombay University, along with the music education from Khan. Parikh got admission in Elphinstone College, Bombay. His musical education continued uninterrupted throughout his performing career, from 1944 to 2004 until Khan's death.
Music career
Arvind Parikh has been performing for over six decades. Associations with other musicians helped him in his research work. These musicians include B. R. Deodhar, Latafat Hussain Khan, Amir Khan, Niyaz Ahmad-Faiyaz Ahmad Khan, D. T. Joshi, and Radhika Mohan Maitra. He has performed in India and abroad. He has performed at music festivals in India and Europe, and has had concert tours in several parts of West Asia, Far East and Australia. Parikh is a regular performer on All India Radio. His daughter Purvi Parikh is also a classical vocalist. His wife was a disciple of Niyaz Ahmad - Faiyaz Ahmad Khan of Kirana gharana. Parikh has compiled compositions and ragas in "Sitar Guru" and "Bandish Parampara" published by Navras Records UK.
Cultural ambassador
Parikh was vice president of the International Music Council during 1994-97 and is currently co-ordinator for the Indian sub-continent. He is President of the Indian Musicological Society, chairman of the Western India chapter of ITC Sangeet Research Academy. Parikh conceived establishing a forum at which all segments of the music world could meet to discuss issues of common interests. Music forums are established in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi. He is currently spearheading an association of 12 classical musicians, called All India Musicians’ Group - drawn from the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions, to create greater support in government, industry and the media for Indian classical music.
Parikh has handled the pursuits of business and music simultaneously. Parikh's business is a logistics provider in 51 Indian cities. Its latest joint venture with Deutsche Post and DHL as DHL Lemuir Logistics Pvt. Ltd. He is chairman of an Indian transportation organization and director of a travel and tourism company, and his family owned group owns a company for printing accessories.
