COURTESY TOI JAN 29

Eight young women to take diksha in Surat on February 14
All Come From Affluent Business Families
HimansshuBhatt@timesgroup.com

Surat:

Eight young women, all from affluent business families, will renounce worldly pleasures and become Jain sadhvis at a special event to be organized in the city on February 14.

The women are aged between 14 and 27 and include one each from Karnataka, Mumbai and Rajasthan too.

Organizers Kailashnagar Jain Sangh said this is a rare event where a group of women are taking diksha simultaneously, the last such programme being held about two decades ago.

Acharya Rashmi Ratna Suriji, who has given dikshas to 414 people till date, told TOI, “It’s a fact that this is for the first time in the past so many years that eight young women are taking diksha together.” Around 18 years ago, 28 people, mostly men, were given diksha by Acharya Gunratna Suriji, the teacher of Rashmi Ratna Surji. “Earlier, not more than two or three women took diksha together,” he said.

Pooja Chhajed, 22, daughter of an animal husbandry fodder trader in Rajasthan, is one of the eight. “I had a lot of interests in life. However, my parents always wished I must take diksha and become a sadhvi. My brother could not develop the feeling of giving up worldly pleasures, but my life changed two years ago when my grandfather died,” she says.

Dhruvi Kothari is one of the girls taking diksha

National gymnast Pooja to take diksha

My grandfathers passing away prompted me to go to a sadhvi and spend a few months with her. I developed a strong inner feeling to renounce the world,” said Pooja, who has studied till class XII.

“Once a person realizes that he or she can’t live without committing sins and hurting others, they adopt the path of diksha,” said Acharya Rashmi Ratna Surji.

Hiren Shah, whose 18-year-old niece Snehi Kothari from Palanpur is also taking diksha, said, “Snehi was strongly influenced by religion since her childhood. Her two aunts have also taken diksha and she used to live with them during her vacation. She too decided to take the same path.” Shah and Snehi’s father Nilesh are both diamond brokers in Surat.

The eight women also include national gymnastic player from city, Pooja Shah. “Pooja has given up MCom study to become a sadhvi. February 14 is my birthday and she will give me the best gift of my life by renouncing the world.”

Besides these three women, others who will be turning sadhvis are Dhruvi Kothari (24) from Surat, Sweety Sanghvi (23) from Bardoli, Mahek Kamleshbhai (14) from Mumbai, Khushi H Vishal (18) from Tumkur, Karnataka and 27-year-old Minjal Shah from Varal village of Bhavnagar.