My Daughter Join a Cult

Hello!everyone 

Myself, Aamena Rangwala student of Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University, Department of English. This blog is based on docu-series 'My Daughter Joined a Cult. 

My Daughter Joined a Cult 

'My Daughter Joined a Cult is a docu-series based on Following the life of the controversial and self-styled godman,Swami Nithyananda and it was released on OTT platform Discovery+ . 

Directed by Naman Saraiya, the show captures the exposure of the godman, who allegedly deceived his believers by luring them into joining his ashram and gurukul trust 'Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam', and then later allegedly abused them.

Cults controlling minds pattern 

cults can control behavior by psychological manipulating,such as asking all members to live on a commune together, and keeping members busy. By scheduling their days, is the another form of behavior control.

Nithyananda's trapping devotees/audience by his speech 

 The moment you sit in front of me, enlightenment starts, says Nithyananda to his audience. It is one of the many declarations the godman makes, which leave us questioning what made people fall for him. His vast number of followers includes influential and wealthy people, who are unnamed, and like many Indian spiritual gurus he has his share of foreign devotees. There are accounts from followers-turned- whistleblowers. The most insightful voice here belongs to an anonymous woman whose experience suggests that Nithyananda knew how to target the vulnerable and make people commit to him so much that they had ready to sever ties with their families.

Nithyanandas two-faced ways are revealed best by Sarah Landry aka Sudevi, his social media manager, and Jordan Lozada through their recollection of goings-on in the ashram, which include verbal abuse and beating of disciples as well as demands to ramp up the videos propagating his teachings and increase the enrolments for his inner awakening programme. Landry and Lozada do as the boss orders with a video segment called Keeping up with the Kailashians, in which they dress up in saffron robes and chronicle their lives in the ashram.

Sarah Landry 

‘IF WE DON’T DO AS HE TELLS US, WE ARE MADE TO SEEM LIKE A RAAKSHAS'

The former head of Nithyananda's social media team, Sarah Landry, and another core member, Jordan Loazada, add depth to the documentary as they clearly demarcate when they went from thinking that they had chosen an alternate way of living to realising they had joined a cult.

From demanding nude selfies from her for her own 'personal development' to ordering she get thousands of registrations for his programmes, Sarah faced all forms of abuse before extracting herself from the situation.

Having headed the online slander campaigns against former devotees who spoke out, she now says she was "brainwashed" and programmed to believe her 'guru'.

"If we don't do as he tells us, we are made to seem like a raakshas (devil)."

The highlight is on-the-record interviews with lapsed devotees, which include Sarah Landry and another prominent foreign follower, Jordan Lozada. 

The interviewees include journalists, among them The NewsMinute founder Dhanya Rajendran, who, while working for Times Now, tracked down a supposedly absconding Nithyananda and did a revealing interview with him.

The most moving conversation is with Jansi Rani, the mother of 24-year-old Sangeetha, who refused to leave Nithyananda’s side despite mounting scandals. Sangeetha was reported dead from a heart attack a few months after she called her mother, saying she was planning to flee the ashram. In Jansi Rani’s tragedy, we gain some understanding of the perils of blind faith and the willing suspension of disbelief.