Called by the cult | Review of The Cost of a Promised Afterlife by Priyamvada Mehra
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India is a land of godmen. Their framed photos hang in living rooms. Their sermons stream on TV. Stickers with their names adorn the windscreens of cars. Yet the term ‘cult’ never comes up. Why not? When does a congregation of the faithful tip over into the realm of the cult? How does membership of a cult affect a person’s mind and relationships? Priyamvada Mehra’s The Cost of a Promised Afterlife is a gripping memoir that offers an intimate look at how a cult can take root in a family, and once it does, tear it apart.
Mehra is nine when her mother Shalini (not her real name) is diagnosed with a brain tumour. The only remedy is surgery, but survival is not guaranteed. As Mehra writes, “Gripped by fear and desperation, my parents began clinging to the faint hope that something, anything, might undo the diagnosis and the impending surgery.” A family friend offers to take them to his ‘guru’, Rampal.
Seduced by “stories of people healing from even the gravest illnesses through Guruji’s grace”, the Mehra family goes for a ‘darshan’. Once they enter Rampal’s force field, the wheels of the cult kick into gear. Their personal details are taken, forms are filled, and before they know it, their ‘naamdaan’ (initiation) is done. They’ve become followers of ‘Sant Rampal’.
In the days following the initiation, Shalini’s tumour goes dormant. Doctors aver that immediate surgery is unnecessary. For Mehra’s relieved parents, this coincidence could have only one explanation: Rampal had orchestrated a miracle. Fully sold on his divine credentials, they double down on their allegiance to their new guru.
Loyalty to Rampal
Like any cult leader, Rampal wielded absolute control over every detail of his followers’ lives. He gave the Mehras 23 rules to live by. These included strictures such as not airing (or even hearing) any criticism of Rampal, no singing or dancing or listening to music, no meat consumption, no birthday celebrations, and no last rites after death. The cumulative impact of the rules was to cut the Mehra family off from every kind of social, cultural and emotional tether. The only all-consuming presence in their lives was Rampal.
The Mehras started visiting Rampal’s ashram frequently. While her school mates spent their vacations travelling to new places, Mehra spent her holidays doing ‘seva’, or menial work, at the ashram. Demonstrating loyalty to Rampal became the governing principle of their lives. Recordings of Rampal’s sermons played non-stop in their home. A family under perennial financial stress splurged on travel for his satsangs, on feasts in his honour, and on donations to his ashram, with Shalini even donating her jewellery. But none of it was ever enough, because their faith was founded on a lie — Shalini’s ‘miraculous healing’.
In due course, Shalini’s tumour became active. Her seizures returned. But the Mehras would not seek medical help. Mehra narrates an incident when Shalini had a bad episode, her “body contorted in horrific spasms, as if seized by an unseen force”. The family, all educated individuals, responded by feeding her “Amrit Jal” — tap water ‘sanctified’ by Rampal. The family also reverentially consumed “charanamrit” — water ‘sanctified’ by being used to wash Rampal’s feet.
The collapse
As Shalini’s condition deteriorates, Mehra’s parents blame themselves. Perhaps they didn’t chant the mantras with enough conviction, perhaps they had fallen short in their devotion, perhaps something was lacking in their seva. They are so brainwashed and guilt-tripped they cannot see the obvious problem: Rampal’s opposition to treating her with modern medicine. And so they don’t do the obvious — take the sick woman to the hospital.
Their ‘bhakti’ towards Rampal is such that it does not permit them to question him even when Mehra is used as a human shield during a violent clash at the ashram. The surrender of will and collapse of intellect are so complete they remain his adoring followers even after he is arrested, jailed, and convicted for murder.
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