Mumbai: 16 youths including lawyer, banker, renounce the world to become monks

Those who took diksha ride on chariots throwingu00c2u0080 their material possessions into the crowdA hush seems to have fallen over Borivlis Chikoo Wadi as a fourday mammoth festival Vijay Prasthan Utsav that literally means path to victory ended yesterday Locals saw thousands of visitors throng the neighbourhood for the Jain spiritual festival which began on January 19 at the Shimpoli cricket ground It featured 16 young men and women taking diksha where they renounced the material world freed themselves of all relationships and began a new ascetic lifeThe five men who became sadhus at the Vijay Prasthan Utsav in BorivliSunday morning saw Borivli roads choked as chariots rolled out of the ground and the diksha ceremony began The individuals who are now on the road less travelled flung their material possessions to members of the surging crowdBreaking freeDrashti Dedhia of Matunga who is now Saadhviji Divyanidhi Shreeji in allwhite hair gone is unrecognisable from the young woman with heavy ornaments who had sat before this reporter and said just two days before she took diksha This is all about getting something that is more supreme than what I have nowAlso read Boy tops class 12th exams in Gujarat then becomes a Jain monkThose who took diksha ride on chariots throwing their material possessions away into the crowdI call this path that I have chosen as independence I will be breaking free of all that I am not scared at all in fact I am excited the law student had added Saadhviji Vairagyanidhi Shreeji was Viral Dedhia when shed spoke to us saying she has traded her dream of being a research scientist for another journeyThe 11 women who took diksha and have now become saadhvisViral who lives in Ghatkopar and is a Bharatnatyam dancer will now follow the music of her heart one of independence and freedom from all desires as she put it Dedhia who has a masters in biochemistry said These are the logical steps I have taken on a journey of the soul The way to ultimate happiness is to become freeNo attachmentsSneha Katariya from Bengaluru left behind her bank balance and job at investment giant Goldmann Sachs with complete understanding and support of my family who are of the opinion that I can go where I find my happiness Now reborn so to speak as Saadhviji Dakshnidhi Shreeji white shod barefooted she has taken her first steps to happinessPareen Shah now Saadhviji Prashamnidhi Shreeji a web designer from Sarvodaya Nagar in Mulund said I will get peace and happiness on this journey When we sacrifice desire then there is no painFamily fragmentedThe Lodaya family young parents and their teenage daughter had just 24 hours together as a family before beginning diksha Pritesh Lodaya from Chopdagam in Jalgaon district whose family has an electronics business was leaving everything behind for a higher calling which only indepth religious study can teach youHis wife Hemal said true devotion is the aim while their daughter Yashika added There is no ideal age for this you have to take diksha when you are preparedPritesh has now become Munishree Prashambhushan Vijayji while Hemal is Saadhviji Harshnidhi Shreeji and the teenager is Saadhviji Yugnidhi Shreeji The family is no longer one unit they have renounced all ties with each other They are now individuals who will go their separate waysLast messageAfter four days of frenetic zeal it was business as usual for Borivli Luxurious cars moved out of the venue signalling the end of the festival Autorickshaws buzzed madly carting other visitors to the railway stationFor these 16 their roads may never cross but they are the wise say on the path that has been carved by H H Acharya Yugbhushan Suriji who said The fearless adopt the path of diksha not to win the world but to conquer thyselfCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news current affairs from Mumbai local news crime news and breaking headlines hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go