Vardhaman Book on Jainism

Author(s): Jayshree Menon
Publisher: Bennete Coleman & Co Ltd

Page 68

dors of her business world. Smiling at us from the magnificent blow-ups daughter Kavita surprised her with recently, is a twinkle-eyed young woman, whose soft features and pert figure radiate with the allure of a confident person who has found her calling.
"Yes, in the final analysis, it is your bhav, the attitude of your mind, not just your features that make you lovely." Which is why today she can dismiss the extra kilos time has gifted with a merry "I was thin and then I was lovely and now I am fat again, so what?" Emerson, who prescribed laughing "often and much" as one of the 'musts' to stay alive all your life would be thrilled with such a disposition!
Today, Daftary, who figured as the only woman in Business India's list of 100 prominent business leaders of India in 1988, is busy with her many tasks as the 'once-more' IMC President. "We provide quality service to the industry and trade organs. For instance, there are a lot of programmes for educating mediumsized units. We help to create pro-active partnerships between government and business, provide timely and accurate information, do research review economic, monetary and trade policies, all with the goal of achieving rapid growth of the national economy."
That was the desk-time portfolio. Independently, Daftary has travelled extensively and lectured on subjects ranging from management and women's empowerment to vegetarianism, ahimsa and Jain philosophy, Little surprise then, that the Jain Ratna Award was conferred on her because of her firm belief in ahimsa as a practising Jain, her commitment to the propagation of Jain philosophy as well as human and ethical values.
"In 1980 I began a serious study of Jainism under Acharya Vidyanand Muni. It was he who convinced me that I should take up the editorship of Jain Bodhak, the fortnightly started by my grandfather. It is second in longevity only to Tilak's Kesari and it has brought me a lot of fulfilment. You see, when one follows certain principles, one wants to know the philosophy behind them. My main effort in Jain Bodhak is to make available what is in the shastras in a simplified manner. The road to moksha is open only to those with samyakdarshan -which is shraddha (piety), gyan (knowledge) and charitrya (good character).
"I am a strict follower of the Jain diet - I don't eat
anything grown underground. Jaise khave anna, waise hoye mann (what you eat influences your mind)."
"I believe in yoga. I do the suryanamaskar as well as pranayam and dhyana. You see puja or paath (ritualistic worship or chanting and reading of spiritual texts) are the initial steps but finally, the road to moksha is through the mind ...learning to eliminate anger, avarice, attachment, ego. The most difficult to give up is maya (attachment). Jainism tells you that by good deeds you may accumulate punya but to break the cycle of life and death you must cultivate detachment."
Surely it is this constant striving to reach that inner seat of calm detachment that gave her the strength to absorb the shock of the stroke her husband suffered about a year ago.
"The study of Jain philosophy, my guru have helped me to understand the theory of karma.
Students of economics normally treat the karma theory as negative for the economic growth of the country because they feel it makes you fatalistic. That is not true. True purushartha is in learning to accept what happens, yes, but also in not giving up or getting bogged down by life. You have to keep on doing the right things and try to find a way out. Yes, life did come to a standstill for a
short while but I have the strength to bear what comes. My husband is a fighter, so am I. Along with my sense of responsibility, compassion and acceptance is the awareness that if this is his fate, it is mine too."
In whatever she does, Sharayu Daftary's motto clearly is, "Give your all to what you do". You have to only read her outstanding resume. Or listen to her management-speak'. Or nit-pick with her about Jain philosophy. Or discover she gives research grants to low profile but deserving musicians. Or hear about the exhibition on vegetarianism that she had mounted and how she helped Satish Arora add zing to Jain food at the Taj. Or see how well her daughters Gauri Pohoomal, Czaee Shah and Kavita Khanna, have turned out ("what was important was not what they did, but how well they did it"). Or stare disbelieving at the impeccable hand embroidery she has done on her saris!
And you know there are still some rare individuals from whom life will always take a beating. You know this woman cannot fit into a thumbnail sketch. You know, most of all, that you have met a winner!
YARDHAMAN, 68 national