Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult

Jayanti Tamm Memoirist

photo credit: Eric L. Curley

Author Biography

From the time of her birth, Jayanti Tamm was declared the chosen disciple in the cult of Guru Sri Chinmoy. Jayanti grew up in the Guru's inner circle, shuttling between her family's home, Sri Chinmoy's Connecticut headquarters, and his ashram in Queens, New York.
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Influences

There are many writers that I admire. Contemporary fiction authors whom I read with the hopes of learning from are Lorrie Moore, Mark Salzman, Jhumpa Lahiri, Nathan Englander. The playwright who continues to astound me is Martin McDonaugh.

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Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult

Synopsis:

The first inside account of growing up as the designated "chosen one" in the cult run by the charismatic guru Sri Chinmoy.

Born into a family of devout followers where absolute obedience to Sri Chinmoy was required, Jayanti Tamm spent twenty-five years in Chinmoy's inner circle. Considered a living saint by some, a shrewd con artist by others, Chinmoy established an ashram in Queens, New York, where all activities considered dangerous distractions to spiritual development--TV, radio, dancing, eating meat, and event sex--were prohibited.

In this colorful, eye-opening memoir, Tamm shares the trauma and triumphs of growing up "cult" in mainstream America and the powerful hold of such a lifestyle. Tamm also reveals a new side to the enigmatic personality of Chinmoy, who until his death in 2007 managed to convince thousands of his disciples and celebrities--Princess Diana, Desmond Tutu, Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II, Nelson Mandela--that he was merely a humble emissary of peace.

Tamm offers a poignant and provacative look inside the cult's way of life, her own rebellions and troubled coming-of-age, her hard-won decision to finally leave the cult in her twenties, and the unique challenges she confronted as she built a new life.

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Author Comment:

Readers who enjoyed Jeanette Wall's stunning memoir, The Glass Castle, will discover in Cartwheels in a Sari a similarly engaging story of a most untraditional childhood.