Doshi ran a $100 million plastic business.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: When Bhanwarlal Raghunath Doshi rejected the offer to join the family business and instead borrowed Rs. 30,000 to start a new, independent business, he was confident that he would excel in whatever he ventures into.
This past Sunday, Doshi, who now has a Rs. 600 crore ($100 million) business empire that deals with trading raw plastic material, gave up all his money and luxury to embrace Jain monastic life.
Doshi became a Jain monk under the Jain Acharya, Shri Gunratnam Surishwarji Maharaj. He is the 108th disciple of Surishwarji Maharaj. Surishwarji Maharaj was quoted by The Huffington Post saying “Taking diskha is not easy. A Jain muni’s life is like that of conch shell that cannot be painted by any other color.”
Doshi, who is the father of two, decided to lead a life of austerity which essentially means he cannot cut his hair too and have to walk without footwear.
Doshi became attracted to diksha in 1982 after hearing a series of Jain lectures that drew him towards spirituality but, until last year he couldn’t convince his family. During the extravagant ceremony held at the Ahmedabad Education Society, 101 spectators took the resolution to accept Jain diksha in the course of the next five years’ time.
Doshi’s diksha ceremony, which had ‘samyam jahaj’ (ship of restraint) as its theme, saw the Indian billionaire and his family spending over Rs. 100 crore. In addition to the Jain monks and sadhus, the event also saw the attendance of close to 1.5 lakh spectators.
A handful of bigwigs from the political and industrial sphere were present, including Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani. Ahead of the ceremony, Doshi had organized a 7 Km. procession called Varsi Daan which saw 1000 Jain monks, 12 chariots, nine elephants, 9 camel carts and traditional musicians’ performing.
Doshi’s son Rohit, who is an MBA degree holder from UK, was quoted by the Mirror saying, “He would have taken diksha three years ago but the family stopped him then. It is always tough when the head of the family wants to seek diksha. It took three years for him to convince us. We are proud of him. The honour and respect that he got when he announced his decision is something that can only be seen to be believed,”
The Times of India reported Doshi had appointed over 1,500 boys to serve food during the event that lasted for three days. With the venue made in the shape of a ship and over 500 hotel rooms booked for guests, Doshi made his austerity ceremony a glittering one, probably for the last time in his life.