AHMEDABAD: Mukesh Sanghvi, 43, a businessman from Mumbai, will take diksha at Adhyatmik Nagri constructed in the Vesu area of Surat. His wife Shilpa, 42, and son Keosha, 14, and his daughter will join him in the spiritual journey.
“I decided to renounce family life and conveyed the decision to my family. They immediately suggested that they do the same,” Sanghvi told TOI.
“We have seen all aspects of life. We have seen the struggles of a middle-class family and also the riches the business brought us that enabled us to see countries from Europe to Africa and also the US and Singapore.” He added: “But seeking the blessings of a guru will eventually bring happiness.”
In a historic event, no fewer than eight families are taking diksha under the guidance of Yogtilaksureshwarji Maharaj.
In all, 75 diksharthis will be part of the event on Monday. The organizers said that 14 are crorepatis and come from Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Amish Dalal, 55, is a practising chartered accountant and company secretary based in Mumbai. “My firm’s turnover is in crores. But after all these years, it’s not what gives me happiness,” said Dalal. “I seek the grace of religion and walk on the path of self-discovery.”
Dalal’s family hails from Khambhat in Gujarat and he was a top ranker in his student days. Ravindra Shah, a trustee overseeing the event, said that the diksharthis are from 7 to 70 years and come from all walks of life. In all, 38 men and 37 women will take diksha.
“It’s perhaps the biggest diksha mahotsav at which so many diksharthis will become Jain sadhus and sadhvis,” said Hitesh Mota, one of the organizers. “At an earlier event, about 69 had taken diksha.”
