Taking the higher road

If there is only one feeling that the Punamiya residence exudes it has to be peace The threestorey bungalow is tucked away in a row of houses in a lane near the Dahanu railway station in Palghar district The entrance is decorated with a mandap and workers are adding the final touches But despite all the activity Tilak Tirth is an oasis of calm in the busy commercialcumresidential areaWith lsquotirthrsquo or pilgrimage site in its name the influence of religion and spirituality is apparent all over the house The head of the house Dr Prakash Punamiyarsquos books on religious and spirituality are strewn about the living room His nephew is named Punyapal the keeper of good deeds and Punyapalrsquos son is Mokshesh a personification of the concept of mokshamdashfreedom from the worldly cycle of birth and deathKelirsquos grandfather Dr Prakash Punamiya recalls how his father started the tradition by accepting diksha at the age of 52 which was followed by the next two generationsAnd yet the 69yearold doctor is not just pious he is equally scientific and philosophical Born and brought up in the coastal town Punamiya finished MS and MBBS at the BYL Nair Hospital in Mumbai before going back home to set up a hospital there His gentle eyes underline the family tradition Sacrifice and detachment from worldly pleasuresldquoMy father was 52 years old when he accepted diksha and became a wandering monkrdquo he says ldquoHe was a poor farmer who toiled hard saved every penny and built his fortune from scratch After we were born and were growing up he stopped to think He realised that he had achieved everything he needed in life and that whatever he wanted from here on would just be desires not needs He decided to free himself from the endless cycle and focus on spiritual growth by accepting dikshardquoKeli the younger daughter of Punyapal and Aastha Punamiya will accept diksha at a grand ceremony on December 1That simple word belies the depth of a life of chastity and hardship that follows once you set foot on the path Accepting diksha begins by renouncing the first thing you ever called your own Your name Under a new name you take five sacred vows or mahavrats Ahimsa to never harm anybody physically or psychologically Satya to always speak the truth Asteya never steal anything Brachmacharya celibacy not just in the physical sense but also complete freedom from desires And Aparigraha never owning or claiming anything as belonging to youldquoThe beauty of these vowsrdquo explains Punamiya ldquois that their meaning is not absolute Satya does not mean you speak the truth no matter what it means stopping to think whether speaking the truth would lead to anyone being hurt or harmed If you see a deer running past and a hunter asks you where it went telling the truth could lead to the deerrsquos death Which means you break your vow of ahimsa Similarly astya isnrsquot just limited to the actual act of stealingmdashyou canrsquot even pick up something lying on the road because that does not belong to yourdquoThe beach town of Dahanu has a thriving Jain population with several derasars and communities spread out over the town the Punamiyas themselves having lives here for over 150 yearsAfter his father Punamiyarsquos eldest brotherrsquos son became a dikshit 42 years ago aged just eight His second brotherrsquos son followed Around 17 years ago Punamiyarsquos own son Tirthesh walked in their footsteps The women too have kept the tradition alive including Punamiyarsquos sisterinlaw and six nieces at different ages ranging from late childhood to early teenageNow his 13yearold granddaughter Keli is set to follow in the path of her elders by accepting diksha on December 1ldquoIt is simply something I always knew I wanted to dordquo Keli tells midday matteroffactly ldquoI have grown up in an atmosphere where diksha is revered more than anything else and it didnrsquot take any time or determination to make up my mindrdquo The precocious teen is still shy while interacting with people and turns to her father Punyapal for help to answer our questions ldquoIt is simply traditionrdquo Punyapal adds ldquoOver 300 people are coming from all over Maharashtra and Gujarat to attend Kelirsquos diksha ceremony We are all so proud of herrdquoThe five mahavrats are followed over a lifetime by a wandering monk A dikshit or dikshita cannot sleep anywhere except in ashrays or shelters designated for them in derasars These have no beds mattresses fans or airconditioners They sleep on thin sheets and wear only white unstitched robes There are no stoves to cook on either A dikshita is supposed to go around the area seeking bhiksha to meet his food needs for the day Even this is governed by a principle called gocharimdashthe way a cow grazes or madhukarimdashthe way a bee gathers honey from flowers The dikshita must collect small amounts from various households so that donors are not burdened They cannot stay in one place for more than two to three days at a time except during the holy chaturmaas in monsoon when they donrsquot travel lest they harm the insects that come out due to the rainsldquoThere are rules of interpersonal interaction as wellrdquo Punamiya ldquoA dikshita may interact with family members but no longer as a relative They cannot address their parents as lsquomaababarsquo or their siblings as didibhaiyyardquoAs we near the end of our extremely enlightening conversation Punamiyarsquos grandsonmdashKelirsquos brothermdashcomes running in and jumps onto his lap The nineyearold is named Heet or welfareldquoHe is too young to be happy or unhappy about Kelirsquos decision but he has accepted itrdquo Punamiya tells us ldquoHappinessrdquo he adds ldquois relative If you win R10 crore in a lottery tomorrow you will be happy yesrdquoOf course this writer thinks fingers crossedldquoBut if herdquo Punamiya continues gesturing towards our photojournalist ldquowins R20 crore on the same day your Rs 10 crore will bring you more sadness than joyrdquoAs much as we hate it we have to agree ldquoAnd thisrdquo the wise doctor smiles ldquois exactly what diksha frees you fromrdquo