BOOK REVIEW
OF ‘HOLY HELL’ from a GENDER
PERSPECTIVE
In recent years, no other book has
come out exposing India’s God Men and God Women like the HOLY HELL – A Memoir of Faith, Devotion and Pure Madness written by
Australian Gail Tredwell better known by her India name, Gayatri. Though media
focused on the rape, financial embezzlements and sexual orgies practiced in the
Amritanandamayi ashram (see Outlook,
10 March 2014 and India Today, 10
March 2014), this book is essentially the biography of Gayatri, the former
personal attendant of the famous hugging saint from Kerala. No doubt, while
Gayatri was serving as the personal attendant of Amritanandamayi, she witnessed
numerous sexual orgies, subjected to rape and humiliation and all those disgusting
stories of malpractices around money and sexual slavery is there in the
book. But the book is more than that. It
is a sharp critique of the patriarchal values followed in India as Gail
Tredwell narrates instances after instances when she was subjected to
humiliation on account of her gender status.
The book, written in excellent prose
is actually the quest for God by Gail Tredwell, a 19 year old Australian girl.
She travels throughout Southeast Asia after quitting home and then comes to
India. In India she travels to Kashmir and the Himalayas. Her travel to Kargil
and wonderful experiences she got on a full moon light is narrated in great
detail in the book. Then she travels from Kashmir to Chennai and finally comes
to Thiruvinnaimalai.
Thiruvinnaimalai experiences and the
meditation she does in the Ramana Maharishi’s Samadhi is the finest part of the
book. She spends 1 year in Thiruvinnaimalai in a nearby house close to Ramana
Maharishi’s ashram. Going around the holy hill of Arunachalai in the early
morning (Giri Pradakshina) is
narrated in great detail. She has only endearing things to say about her 1 year
stay in Thiruvinnaimalai. The 19 year old Australian girl is deeply touched by
the simple life in Thiruvinnaimalai and the love and affection she got.
Unfortunately she wanted a fast train
to God. So she was smitten by the story of Amritanandamayi, an Indian Guru from Parayakadavu (now partially known
as Amritapuri), Alappad
Panchayat, Kollam District, in
the state of Kerala.
She was known as a ‘God Woman’ and there was a small group around her with a
small temple singing devotional songs (bhajans). It is said that she used to
imitate God Krishna and the ‘Divine Mother’ (Krishna bhava and Devi bhava)
from her young days. Born to a family of fishermen in 1953, she was the third
child of Sugunanandan and Damayanti. The family was having 3 brothers and 3
sisters other than Sudhamony born on 1953 September 27. Sudhamony only later became Amritanandamayi.
So Gail Tredwell also joins the group
taking the Indian name of Gayatri. Slowly more devotees and foreigners join and
an ashram is being set up. With the flow of more devotees and foreigners,
money, power and the prestige of the ashram also grows. Soon Sudhamony takes the name of
Amritanandamayi and lot of healing stories and miracle stories start
circulating regarding her. Healing stories, miracle stories and divine status
were carefully planted around her so as to increase her popularity. Political
leaders, Chief Ministers and Central Ministers soon come to meet her and seek
her blessings. Once popularity
surrounds her, huge funds flow and she goes to numerous cities in India and
abroad especially to rich countries like Australia, United States and many
cities of Europe.
Gayatri takes over as the as the
personal attendant of Amritanandamayi and worldwide tours starts. Soon numerous
institutions are set up in the name of Amritanandamayi. But the lady who is known for her affection,
love and great grace was a completely a different person once doors of the
ashram were closed. Gail Tredwell
records numerous instances of abuse, assault, slapping she and the numerous
disciples were subjected to. This is a shocking thing to an average reader of
the book. But more than the abuse, insults, torture and channelling of money to
her family, the most shocking aspect regarding Amritanandamayi ashram is the
rape and the sexual slavery Gail Tredwell was subjected to in the corridors of
the ashram. Many head swamis had sexual affairs with Amritanandamayi and one of
them namely Swami Amrutha Swaroopanandapuri (Balu) repeatedly rapes Gail
Tredwell. But she is afraid to raise the subject. In chapter twenty titled ‘Man
in Heat’Gail Tredwell writes:
“I was manipulated, forced actually,
in some kind ménage à trios. The first (the all knowing guru woman) did not
know that the second (the disciple and the personal attendant woman) was
regularly abused and raped under her very nose, sometimes right beside her bed
while she was asleep - at any rate, in her divine and sacred abode and under
her all knowing protection.”(p.244)
More than that Gail narrates as to
how her 3 sisters and 3 brothers suddenly became rich and how Amritanandamayi
planted numerous stories to account for this sudden rise in wealth using the
ashram money. In chapter twenty one titled ‘The Dawn of Doubt’Gail Tredwell
writes:
“Amma was no different from all the other
pedestal-mounters. She drew money and golden jewelry like a magnet, and her pot
always overflowed. For years I noticed that rich and generous devotees received
royal treatment, the red carpet rolled out before them. For the most part, I
justified this behaviour as Amma’s way of taking from the rich to give to the
poor - a modern Robin hood, if you will.
Later I realized that a large chunk
of the offerings placed directly in Amma’s hands in India went right to her
family. These offerings had been given by devotees in the belief that the money
would support Amma’s charitable work. Initially I was okay with this. I
considered Amma’s duty to provide her parents a comfortable home and the dowry
to marry off her sisters, especially in a culture that places such emphasis on
family values. But Amma went way above and beyond the call of duty. Her
parents, three brothers, and three sisters each received large sums of money
and gold.” (p.254)
Later Gail was ordained as Swamini
Amruthaprana and she assumes the position equivalent to Mother Superior in the
ashram guiding and supervising hundreds of Indian and foreign girls.
While she was the Swamini Amruthaprana
and even when she assumed the position equivalent to Mother Superior in the
ashram, she was tormented by the hypocrisy and frauds committed in the ashram.
Plus there was the continued assault and abuse she used to receive as ‘Guru
Prasadam’ (offerings by the Guru) from the ‘Divine Mother’ (Mata
Amritanandamayi). Finally
she decides enough is enough and quits the ashram while they were on an U.S.
tour. Various attempts were made by the ashram to bring her back into the
ashram fold but Gail Tredwell says no and decides to write the present book
titled ‘HOLY HELL – A Memoir of Faith,
Devotion and Pure Madness’ as part of the healing process against the abuse, insults, torture and the sexual
slavery she endured over 20 years as the personal attendant of Amritanandamayi.
But
then ‘HOLY HELL – A Memoir of Faith, Devotion and
Pure Madness’ is not simply the story of abuse, insults, torture and the sexual slavery she
endured over 20 years as the personal attendant of Amritanandamayi.
The book contains sharp social criticism against many feudal, hierarchical and
the patriarchal values followed by Indian society. The male superiority complex
and many practices like woman eating only after men, woman not sitting in front
of men and numerous other aspects of patriarchal values come in for severe
criticism. In this context Heat’Gail Tredwell writes:
“Indian men are accustomed to being
revered and waited on hand and foot by their mothers and sisters. .....The
laundry was done, the meals served, the plates taken away and washed, and only
after the men had finished eating would the women of the family even consider
sitting down for their own meal. End result: the ingrained superiority complex
of Indian men” (p.143).
The
stress on virginity, viewing women as inferior and viewing all Western women as
people with loose morals and with promiscuous habits come in for severe
criticism. Gail is often reminded of her non-virgin status. The typical Indian
terms like kanya daan, kanya peeth, ashram kanya illustrates very well the traditional Indian way of
looking at virginity. So some women do not like a Western non-virgin woman
serving an ashram head. Taking offense at a lady’s remark about someone who is
not a virgin serving Amma, Gail Tredwell writes:
“I was speechless and stood there
with my mouth ajar. How dare you, I thought. First of all, how do you know that
I am not a virgin? Secondly, what does the status of my vagina have to do with
anything?” (p.238)
For Gail, born and brought up in
Western liberal society, it was a constant uphill battle against the men in
India during her more than 20 years stay in India. She cites numerous instances
when there were inappropriate advances by Indian men towards her. Even an
ashram whose head was a woman; Gail says that ashram was very patriarchal. Male
hierarchy was firmly set into the place.
Gail found herself up against resistance from members of the opposite
sex. Here Gail enjoys being a Western woman as she is able to speak her mind
and stand by what she felt right. But then, it did not go well with Indian men
as they were used to being treated superior. Gail preferred to ignore
resentment by Indian men as she felt someone was needed to stick up for the
Indian women, because their culture trained them to be silent and subservient
to men (p.232). Though life in ashram was patriarchal and exploitative to
women, why hundreds of Indian girls continued to serve in the ashram? In this
context Gail Tredwell writes at length about their plight:
“Many of these young Indian women’s
lives were sealed. In traditional India, once a woman turns thirty, she is no
longer a desirable match for marriage. So if these Indian women ever wished to
leave the ashram, there was a good chance they would not be accepted back by
their families. They would be hard to marry off. They would become financial
burden. Unless they had previously acquired some good education and possessed
street smarts, or came from a rich family, they would have no meaningful way to
support themselves. Even if they had a dowry to offer, their only option would
be to marry someone much older than themselves, most likely a widower – a
person also shunned by traditional Indian culture. This makes me wonder if many
of these poor Indian women are still living in the ashram by choice or because
they have no choice” (p.225).
There is wit, sarcasm, beautiful
descriptions and narration of many heart touching moments throughout the book.
The natural beauty of Kerala is narrated in very beautiful language. A careful
reading of the book makes our heart tilt towards the innocent and the sensitive
personality of Gail Tredwell. Towards the end of the book, she narrates as
to how it took a long time for her to overcome the trauma she endured.
Certainly she deserves sympathy and empathy and not condemnation.
The absolute servility sought by
ashrams and Gurus like Amritanandamayi
has nothing to do with spirituality. Theatrics and drama enacted by Amritanandamayi is similar to
magic and drama enacted by frauds like Asha Ram Bapu and Satya Sai Baba. There are plenty of great books written by
authors like Swami Paramahamsa Yogananda, Paul Brunton and Sri
Mumtaz Ali's (popularly called Sri M because of his ashram name of
Madhukarnanath) on Indian spirituality. Great institutions like
Bihar School of Yoga and Divine Life Society at Rishikesh are also teaching
Yoga, Meditation and other spiritual practices to spiritual aspirants in India
and to all across the world. Great sages like Ramana Maharishi, Sai Nath of
Shirdi, Ma Anandamayi and Kwaja Moinuddin Chisti of Ajmer lived in modern
India. These institutions, authors and sages never allowed multimillion dollar
institutions to build in their name nor sought political connections like Amritanandamayi. Greatness is never advertised and Amritanandamayi ignores
this simple dictum. Simplicity, humility and truthfulness are the marked
qualities of a spiritualist. Amritanandamayi lacked all these qualities. Christ
washed the feet of his disciples and told them to do the same thing to their disciples.
The difference between Christ & Amritanandamayi is that Amritanandamayi is
forcing her disciples to wash her feet with milk, curd, ghee, rose water and
many more things. One wonders as to how come rape, financial frauds and sexual
orgies can be justified in the name of Hindus and fishermen.
Amritanandamayi
used her ‘Divine Mother’ status to emotionally blackmail many people in
distress. The nourishing and caring aspect of motherhood is carefully laid out
here to trap many people and their wealth. The highest respect Amritanandamayi
sought from her disciples has very little to do with the nourishing and caring aspect of motherhood. Calling
devotees as children and carefully portraying her as a ‘mother of too many
children’ seems a very carefully calculated plot to trap innocent people in
distress. In a country where motherhood
is celebrated, it is natural that people like Amritanandamayi can use
their ‘Divine Mother’ status for commercial use. As
there are many goddesses like kali, Durga, Laksmi and Saraswati in the Hindu
pantheon, it is very little wonder that common people in distress worship and
offer their services and money to a woman with divine claims and portrays her
as living goddess.
The reader of the book has to salute
Gail Tredwell for the courage she has shown for standing against the
multimillion dollar institution (Amritanandamayi ashram) spanning in different
continents. Gail displays abundant wisdom to expose charlatans exploiting God’s
name. Correct spirituality and Guru-disciple relationship is based on mutual
respect, absence of malice and negative thoughts and giving responsibility and
freedom to the disciple. Great spiritual Gurus have
always showed great attachment, love and affection to their disciples. But
Amritanandamayi is different. More often support of politicians and media is behind the emergence of
God men and God women. Rape, financial frauds and sexual orgies can hardly be
justified in the name spirituality. All these things are against the very
tenants of spirituality. Nineteen year old Gail looks for love and care and so
she gets trapped in the hands of a ‘Divine Mother’ who offers all the nourishing and caring aspect of motherhood
she did not get back at her home and in the growing up stage. Later on though
she had to endure exploitation and humiliation for over 20 years, she still
looks for and longs for that caring and loving attitude. Surely this book
provides a warning to young girls, especially Western girls seeking spiritual
quest and a fast train
to God in India and all caring and loving spiritual Gurus.
Book
Review by വെള്ളശേരി ജോസഫ് (JERRY JOSEPH)
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