A frail-looking, old woman dressed in a cotton white shirt with beige pants, sat slouched on the plush couch. Almost removed from the flurry of activities around her. Cameras were being set up, lights being adjusted, hands on the floor moving about in haste before the interviews began. Ma Anand Sheela has returned to India after 34 years. And we have made a celebration of it! Cameras are following her around filming each moment of her return ‘home’, the fanfare, the clinking of wine glasses, the eager audiences and the lavish parties thrown for her. Ma Anand Sheela, once a sannyasin now, the toast of the town. Once a criminal, now a celebrity.
But Sheela is no stranger to attention and public scrutiny. Yes, the red robes are gone, and yes the black mop of hair has turned grey, but the glint in her eyes and the wit remains.
“I am Sheela”, she shakes my hand as I walk in.
“How are you doing?” I ask politely
“Just tired…of the same, repetitive, stupid questions,” she says with a poker face.
She has just wrapped up a few live chats with news channels, where anchors from their newsrooms must have posed to her some TRP boosting questions. “Sex orgies, jail time…is that all there is to ask?” she is a bit miffed.
“And you don’t want to answer these questions?” I ask her, all this of course off camera.
“I mean, move on. There is more to me than all that,” Sheela still has the charm.
“Let’s see if we can find out in this interview,” and that’s when we start to roll.
She takes her time to answer the questions. Sheela will have you believe that all she did, she did in the name of love. Sheela, the former secretary of Bhagwan Rajneesh alias Osho, faced allegations of attempted murder, immigration fraud, and her role in 1984 Rajneeshee Bio-terror attack. Sheela ended up in jail. That was three decades ago.
For almost 30 years, she lived a life of anonymity. And then came Netflix’s documentary, Wild Wild Country. Sheela spoke candidly in the film, defiantly standing by her actions, lifting the veil from the cult of Rajneesh. By the end of the first episode, Sheela became the hero of the show for many. The real mastermind. The world suddenly scrambled to get a piece of her. As did a few in India. The wheels were set in motion, and here we are today, celebrating the grand homecoming of Ma Sheela.
As I sit before her for the interview, I cannot fathom how this delicate-looking lady could once have struck havoc in the American town of Antelope. Is this the same woman who stuck her middle finger up to those who questioned her actions? The same woman who scoffed at media with catchphrases like “Tough Titties”!
“I am 40 years wiser,” she says.
I believe her. Ma Anand Sheela is now a brand. She is now an ambassador of love. Once at the helm of affairs at a spiritual cult, she has no qualms calling enlightenment a hoax! It is the love that’s real.
“Did you question Meera for her love for Krishna?” she equates her love for Bhagwan Rajneesh.
As I am wrapping up my interview, she throws in a compliment. As we pose for post-interview photographs she reaches out and holds my hand.
“You and I have the same hairstyle…that’s why you are so good!” she cracks up!
She is a charmer alright! She has already expressed a desire for Alia Bhatt to play her in a movie and as Ma Sheela prepares to star in another Netflix documentary, I won’t be surprised if she finds another cult of followers build around her.
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