Saturday, April 9, 2011

Cartwheels in a Sari, by Jayanti Tamm

Cover of 'Cartwheels In A Sari'

Cartwheels in a Sari, by Jayanti Tamm (published in 2009 by Three Rivers Press) is a memoir of one of Sri Chinmoy's original followers. Sri Chinmoy led a cult based in New York City, but his followers were spread throughout the world, even extending to many well known celebrities and world leaders (which was his intent). I expected the account of "the guru" to be more eerie than it was. Instead, what kept striking me as I read was how ridiculous it all sounded. Sri Chinmoy somehow led hundreds (and thousands?) of followers to believe that he was God (or at least a direct link to God) through the most unbelievable tactics. (Weight lifting was one of the ways he drew crowds; he had a platform made on which he would lift people, objects, and elephants to prove his power (only it was all an elaborate set-up). He first banned his followers from owning pets and then eventually had cages of birds and other sorts of animals kept up in his illegal basement as a zoo. Reading about all of this from an outsider's perspective, it seems unreal to me that anyone would have bought Sri Chinmoy's claims and become one of his disciples. 

It's a good reminder to be cautious of human claims. 

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