In Focus by The Hindu When a godman takes over your life: In Conversation with Priyamvada Mehra
Mar 14, 2026
Priyamvada Mehra, author of The Cost of a Promised Afterlife, recounts growing up in a cult-like religious environment and finding a path to healing. She describes how total control, fear and censorship erased autonomy. She explains why capable people fall for charismatic godmen and how family bonds were redirected to the leader. She ends by sharing her present humanist outlook and reclaimed agency.
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How To Recognize A Cult
- Cult membership is identified by fear, manipulation and coercion rather than beliefs alone.
- Priyamvada Mehra lists red flags: restricted questioning, constant fear tactics and stepwise loss of agency that trap members over years.
Run If Questions Are Forbidden
- Run from anyone who takes away your right to ask questions and enjoy life.
- Priyamvada warns that forbidding curiosity and basic joys (music, dance) is a deliberate control technique.
How Cult Ideology Overrides Family Bonds
- Cult ideology reframes family ties as past-life transactions, reducing earthly obligations and rerouting loyalty to the guru.
- Mehra explains this doctrinal shift makes family bonds appear temporary and devotion primary.
