Maharashtra Medical Topper Renounces All Her Belongings, Becomes A Jain Sadhvi

It was cause for huge celebration for the Hingad family from Malegaon, Maharashtra, when on Wednesday, Heena, 30, their eldest daughter, took diksha in Surat from Acharya Yashoverma Surishwar, and started a new chapter of her life.

What set this diskha apart is the fact that Heena, a topper throughout her student life, is an MBBS graduate with a thriving medical practice at three locations in Maharashtra including Mumbai.

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Daughter of Ashok and Dhanvati Hingad, Dr Heena, who will now be known as Visharad Mataji, was educated in Chennai, Malegaon and Loni. Ashok Hingad runs a business in synthetic yarn from Malegaon. While 14 persons from the extended Hingad family have taken diksha, Heena is the first from her immediate family to set foot on the less-trodden path.

Neeraj Khicha, Heena¡¯s maternal uncle, who attended the diksha ceremony, said that she had scored 94% in her SSC examination, 86% in junior college examination and was a gold medallist from Vikhe Patil Medical College in Loni. After internship, she had started her practice at Malegaon, Dahanu and Mumbai.

¡°However, she always felt that medicine was not her calling. It was her father¡¯s dream to see her daughter become a doctor ¨C which she fulfilled. The seeds of spirituality were sown in her when she was 17 years of age and spent 45 days in Palitana as part of ¡®uththan tapa¡¯. At that time, she had expressed her wish to join a sangha, but the family had asked her to wait,¡± he said.

Heena is the eldest of six daughters. All her sisters live in Mumbai and pursue careers or education, said her family members. The family traces its native to Pali in Rajasthan, but have settled in Maharashtra for two generations.

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Heena¡¯s sister Mokshda, an MBA graduate, said: ¡°She had refused to marry and had time and again requested the family to allow her to become a sadhvi. She shunned technology and led a simple life. It was my grandfather who got convinced by her, and who in turn convinced the family. We are happy of her decision.¡±

Acharya Yashoverma Surishwar, a monk from the sect of Labdhisurishwar, said that four Jain acharyas had participated in the diksha ceremony.

¡°It is indeed a unique event, for through it a practising doctor embraced the life of a sadhvi. She had expressed her wish earlier, but we had asked her to seek permission from her family,¡± he said.