Meet the man who moved on from equities to community service

A 30-year-old equities analyst and his sister were among the six young followers of a Jain spiritual leader who took diksha (vow to lead a life of spirituality and celibacy).

On September 26, before an audience of more than 4,000 fellow followers at Dadar’s Yogi Sabhagruha, Nishit Jasani, who worked for JP Morgan, dedicated his life to community service and pursuit of spiritual knowledge. With him was his sister Ankita, a video editor, who is younger to him by two years.

The group included Vidhi Desai, a double major in international politics and philosophy from PennState University. The others were Darshita Kapadia, an advertising graduate, Chaitali Malde, a diploma holder in fashion technology, and her sister Pooja, a student of commercial art.  

Jasani’s guru Rakeshbhai Jhaveri is the head of the Shrimad Rajchandra Mission. It was set up to promote the teachings of Rajchandra who Gandhiji had acknowledged as one of the most influential people in his life. The mission has its headquarters at Dharampur near Valsad in Gujarat.

Now in Mumbai after a meditation retreat in Dharampur, Jasani, who is now known as Atmarpit Nishit, said he was drawn to the mission since 1996 when his parents became the guru’s followers. “I had thought about taking diksha for nearly 10 years, so it was not a sudden decision that took my parents by surprise,” he said.

“My life has not changed much; what has changed is that I have more time to read scriptures and do community work.”  

The organisation now has 65 people who live a monastic life doing community service and learning and teaching religious scriptures. The monastic initiation (atmarpit) differs from other Jain dikshas, as monks are not prohibited from using vehicles or enjoined to live a particularly severe life.

Bhavin Rupani, trustee of Shrimad Rajchandra Mission, said, “Our guru feels that young people who may want to lead a religious life may be put off by the very severe rules. While those who have taken vows are free to live a life of absolute austerity at a later stage, this is a kind of an interim stage.”

“Guruji has made spirituality attractive and practical for young people,” added Rupani.   

However, youngsters who want to live a life of renunciation have to get their parents’ approval, and followers say there have been instances where aspirants were not allowed to take the diksha or initiation because their parents did not want them to do so.