India Jains: Why are these youngsters renouncing the world?

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▼ Hundreds of young people belonging to India's Jain community have begun renouncing the material world to become monks who always walk barefoot, eat only what they receive as alms and never bathe or use modern technology. The BBC's Priyanka Pathak explores why.
"I will never be able to hug my daughter again," says Indravadan Singhi, his voice breaking. He looks away, determined not to reveal emotion as he says, "I can never meet her eye again."
Resignedly, he watches friends and family drift through his home, decorating his living room with gold and pink tassels to celebrate his daughter's renunciation of the world and entry into monastic life.
In the days ahead of the ceremony, family came from around the country to spend her "last days" doing things she enjoyed - playing cricket in the local park, listening to music and eating out at her favourite restaurants. She will never be able to do these things again.
As a nun, 20-year-old Dhruvi will never again address him and his wife as mother and father. She will pluck out her own hair, always walk barefoot and eat only what she receives in alms. She will never use a vehicle, never bathe, never sleep under a fan and never speak on a mobile phone again.
The Singhis belong to the ancient Jain community, a religious minority comprising around 4.5 million believers. Devout Jains follow the tenets of their religion under the spiritual guidance of monks. These include detailed prescriptions for daily life, especially what to eat, what not to eat and when to eat.
For the past five years, Indravadan Singhi and his wife have watched their only child - who loved ripped jeans and dreamed of winning the reality singing show Indian Idol - become increasingly religious and withdrawn.
By undergoing deeksha, the Jain ritual of renunciation. Dhruvi is withdrawing from the life she knows.
She is not alone. Hundreds of Jain youth are following the same path, their numbers rising each year, with women outnumbering the men.
"There used to be hardly 10-15 deekshas a year until a few years ago," says Dr Bipin Doshi, who teaches Jain philosophy at Mumbai University. But last year, that number rose to 250 and Dr Joshi says this year is likely to see close to 400 deekshas.
Community leaders attribute the rise to three things: growing disenchantment among the young with the pressures of a modern world, gurus of the faith adopting modern technology to make it easier for people to communicate religious ideas and finally, a superstructure of religious retreats that allows young people to experiment with monastic life long before they choose to commit to it.
Pressures of a modern life
The economic and social stresses of a "hyper-connected" world have contributed to this phenomenon, Dr Joshi says.
"What's happening in New York, or what's happening in Europe, you see it at the same moment. Earlier, our competition was restricted only to the streets in which we were staying. Now there is competition with all the world," he said, adding that Fomo - the Fear Of Missing Out - was driving more young people to try and escape everything.
"Once you take deeksha or renounce the world, your level of spirituality, social standing, religious standing becomes so high, even the richest man will come down and bow to you," he added.
Pooja Binakhiya, a physiotherapist who took deeksha last month, says the focus of her life changed completely after she became a nun.
Where her day was once filled with concerns like family, friends, beauty and career, she says she no longer has to think about how she will appear to her friends.
"Here we only think about soul, soul and soul," she says tranquilly.
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► Jains in the World: Religious Values and Ideology in India by John E. Cort

themaskeditor

I believe one has to be practical, being fanatic religious is of no use. Even after taking deeksha and leaving all the worldly pleasures there is a lot of politics in jain monks as well. Then what is the use of all this.