A tribute by Keerti to the Times Group chairperson whom he had met on several occasions when he was head of our Hindi Press Office.
The Hindu writes: Times Group chairperson Indu Jain dies
Times Group chairperson Indu Jain died on Thursday [13 May 2021] due to Covid-related complications, company sources said. She was 84.
Hailing her as a visionary, Times Now Live TV, part of the Times Group, described Jain as a lifelong spiritual seeker, pioneering philanthropist, distinguished patron of the arts, and passionate proponent of women’s rights.
She breathed her last in Delhi, the sources said.
As tributes poured in for her from statesmen, captains of industry and spiritual masters, friends and admirers spoke fondly of her unquenched youthful spirit, zest for life, and determination to make the world a better place.
Smt Indu Jain was an ardent lover of Osho. She had known him from the very early days when the news stories about Osho, and excerpts from his discourses, were regularly published in the popular Hindi and English weeklies owned by her husband Shri Ashok Jain. This was already in the 70’s. Maybe one of the reasons was that Osho also belonged to a Jain family, and he was considered a radical thinker and non-traditional mystic who had given wonderful discourses on Mahavira, the 24th Jain Tirthankara, in Pahalgam, Kashmir and Mumbai. (The Jain Community is a rich community of mainly business people, and Mrs Indu Jain’s family is also one of the richest in India. The whole Times of India group belongs to this family.)
I had the opportunity of meeting her in 1972 in Delhi, when I was part of the Ma Anand Madhu and Swami Chaitanya Bharti’s Osho Kirtan Mandali. She invited the whole group for kirtan and lunch at her home in Delhi. I suppose that whenever Ma Yoga Laxmi went to Delhi to meet Smt Indira Gandhi, she must have also met Indu Jain a few times.
When in1985 Osho came to Delhi from the USA and addressed the press conference, Indu Jain sat next to him holding the microphone in her hand in front of Osho. I heard that in those days Osho had temporarily appointed her as his secretary for Asia, although I cannot confirm this for sure. Since then, Osho’s discourses have been published quite regularly in The Times of India, the number one English daily in India, and its insert, The Speaking Tree.
In 1987, when Osho came back to Pune, Indu Jain visited again together with 70 trainee journalists of the Times of India group. That day, because of them, Chuang Tzu auditorium was packed to the brim. (The discourses were still held there as the Gautama the Buddha Auditorium was not ready for public discourses.) Indu Jain’s son Samir Jain and daughter Nandita Jain had sent in questions to Osho regarding journalism. This talk (# 19) is part of the New Dawn discourse series.
A few years ago, Smt Indu Jain had also visited Osho Nisarga in Dharamshala to participate in a therapy group facilitated by Swami Veet Kamaal.
In 2016, Indu Jain was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the third highest civilian honour in the country.
In my 1918 article, Women could ensure peace, I mentioned that Mrs Indu Jain had stated “at the World Peace Summit that she would like to invoke the all-pervading feminine power – the very embodiment of non-violence – to be here with us. Give women a chance, and non-violence will effortlessly be the religion of the new millennium.” This article was first published in the Speaking Tree of The Times of India and later re-published in happyho.in
Sometimes I was invited to her home in Delhi to discuss the spiritual conferences that she used to organise. Once she said to me, “I meet so many spiritual masters, and quite often, but my connection with Osho is heart to heart. Whenever I remember him, my heart gets stirred with so many feelings and tears appear in my eyes.”
Photos of Delhi and Manali thanks to Anuragi
Note: The Speaking Tree has also been regularly publishing Osho’s niece, Pratiksha Apurv’s articles which have mostly been re-published also in Osho News.
Related discourse
- What is healthy journalism? – Nandita’s question: What is healthy journalism? Can journalism survive on positive news? Please explain your vision on the responsibility of the media.
- Journalism should not be only a business – Osho replies to a question by Samir Jain, son of Indu Jain, Times of India.
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