My daughter joined a cult Docuseries
The title speaks to the predatorial behaviour of self-styled godmen towards young individuals, and the stories in the docu-series map how this grooming takes place. A viewer who is not clued into how religious cults work may wonder what compelled parents to hand over their children to a religious organisation, giving up control and access entirely. The godman in My Daughter Joined a Cult earned the trust of parents — who saw him as the pole star of their lives — and presented himself as a father figure without any need for romantic or sexual attachments.
The ex-devotees featured in the docu-series outline a life event that caused them trauma and despair, which led them to seek out the god-man while being in a vulnerable emotional state. Saraiya remarks that the regimented life in the ashram was an escape for those who felt trapped in their lives. Nithyananda allegedly singled out individuals to make them feel like they were the “chosen” few. Those who gained proximity to power or positions of power would ultimately become the cult’s footsoldiers.
The second and third episodes in the docu-series are a study in absurdity. Rather conveniently, Nithyananda dismisses the notion of ‘karma’ as being legitimate: “Karma means that the effect of our actions will come back to us in the future, is a myth. There is no CCTV recording going on in the cosmos… where your actions will be bringing suffering to you in the future. God is not playing the game of judge.” In the series, we also learn that a summons from the court does not reach the godman, because his security team quite literally does not allow it to pass. When a TV journalist attempts to be a medium for the summons by carrying it with him at a press conference held at the ashram, he is chased out before he can even finish reading it.
This absurdity reaches a crescendo when we learn about how the godman allegedly absconded, leaving the police, the courts and international agencies clueless about his location and methods. Saraiya points to the slow-moving nature of State institutions and processes — for example, the sheer amount of time it took for the rape trial to commence — to explain how the godman may have escaped the authorities. After all, for any godman to succeed in India, they need to make friends in powerful places; it goes without saying that this friendship is reciprocated in turbulent times.
Of note is also the reaction of civil society over the years: Saraiya recounts that protests broke out in the aftermath of an alleged sex tape and Nithyananda’s appointment as the pontiff of a centuries-old religious institution in Madurai. More recently, Nithyananda’s image has been meme-ified and turned into a subject of humour in the mainstream media and on social media, taking attention away from the severity of the allegations against him. My Daughter Joined a Cult sheds light on how this meme-ification allegedly began within the ashram, as those who worked in the social media team began posting such content themselves.
The very nature of the truth is twisted in the ashram: residents and followers receive a limited amount of information from the outside world. They’re repeatedly told that any allegation against their guru is an attack upon their faith, and a conspiracy against their movement. It’s as though they’re living an entirely different, manufactured version of reality. “Lies told many times over can begin to sound like the truth,” Saraiya explains. Assurances don’t have to be issued to them, because a majority of them perceive accusers as being liars and betrayers.
The conditions in the ashram mirror the laws and policies in 20th-century dystopian novels — from long hours of work and forced sleep deprivation, to more insidious aspects, such as encouraging devotees to be suspicious of each other and forcing children to hit their peers. Family members were separated and made to do tasks in different departments, prompting them to feel dissociated from each other — to the point where they may not feel the need for family anymore. The constant cycle of sleep deprivation — about four hours of rest to be precise — has been cited by more than one ex-devotee as impairing their judgment and ability to function. Secrecy, too, was integral to the running and expansion of the ashram, Saraiya says.
The unwavering support and devotion that Nithyananda enjoyed would not exist if it weren’t for a carefully constructed self-mythology. The godman at the centre of My Daughter Joined a Cult not only commodified faith but also himself. One of the many manifestations of this is his devotees taking selfies with standees of his image. Saraiya remembers another story concerning a devotee who claimed they were healed of an acute health issue because of the godman’s mere touch. The docu-series paints a picture of how Nithyananda changed his appearance over the years; as his hair grew out, he also increasingly presented himself as a pathway to enlightenment, and Shiva himself. A coupon code for God,” as Saraiya aptly puts it.
