(From left) Viral Dedhia, 32, Dharmil Dedhia, 16, Sanket Parekh, 29, and Chandresh Poladia, who will renounce ... Read More

MUMBAI: For 29-year-old Sanket Parekh , a chemical engineer from IIT-Bombay , life was all about targets and achievements. He had a well-paying job and was planning a post-graduation course in the US. But an online chat with his senior changed everything. Now he is one of the 16 people taking diksha in a grand ceremony in Borivli, Mumbai, on January 22.

Parekh, who belongs to a Vaishnav family, was initiated into Jainism by his senior from IIT, Bhavik Shah, who also took diksha in 2013. "I was an atheist," said Parekh. "I would have got everything if I had decided to have a career, but my inner self would never have been at peace like it is today," he added.

Explaining his move towards Jainism, Parekh said: "I was chatting with Bhavik, who was in Canada doing an internship with the University of Alberta in 2010. Since I was in my final year, it was a normal chat, about what next for us. I don't know how the conversation veered towards the concept of soul. It was the first time I was thinking about soul, mind and body. That was the trigger and I went deeper with my search and began reading more about Jainism." Now, Parekh will leave behind all his gadgets, including the computer he used to chat with his friend.

Parekh didn't divulge his last drawn salary as many of the perks he was getting were not part of his salary, but said he was paying income tax of Rs 12 lakh per annum.

His father passed away a few years ago, and he calls his mother and an elder sister who is married family. "It was hard to convince my mother initially. But when I told her that this is the only path that will make me happy, she relented," said Parekh, dressed in a sherwani. He studied for two and a half years under Acharya Yugbhushansurji to learn rituals and other basics.

In the group of 16 who will renounce the world, the youngest is 14-year-old Yashika Lodaya, who is taking diksha with her parents-Hemal and Pritesh-and the oldest, a 45-year-old businessman. Twins Khyati and Khushboo Dedhia are part of the group, so is Meeta Dedhia and her teenaged son Dharmil. There are two other teenagers, and the rest are mostly under 30.

Dharmil, 16 and the second youngest, would spend hours on his phone watching funny videos and Youtubing. Three years ago, he first heard Acharya Yugbhushansurji's sermons in a temple in Palitana in Gujarat . "I was instantly drawn in," he said. "I was in Class IX and I decided to spend more time with Guruji studying the Jain texts. I convinced my parents to allow me to give my Class X board exam privately," said Dharmil, who scored 87% last year. He is an only child, so his father wasn't easy to convince.

The community is recording a trend in which young, educated professionals are taking diksha after studying religious texts. "The more educated one is, better is the understanding about the core of religion," said Maharaj Satvabhushanji, a Harvard scholar and now a disciple of Acharya Maharajsaheb.

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