{"product_id":"the-cost-of-a-promised-afterlife-my-escape-from-a-controversial-religious-cult-in-india","title":"The Cost of a Promised Afterlife: My Escape from a Controversial Religious Cult in India","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Priyamvada Mehra\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBrand:\u003c\/b\u003e Simon \u0026amp; Schuster\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNumber Of Pages:\u003c\/b\u003e 328\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRelease Date:\u003c\/b\u003e 10-10-2025\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDetails:\u003c\/b\u003e In India, godmen are everywhere. Their photos hang on walls, their voices fill television screens and their names are spoken in both prayers and scandals. But the word ‘cult’ is rarely used. It stays unspoken until another scandal breaks out, only to be buried under silence again. This silence allows blind faith to thrive and logic to crumble.\u003cbr\u003e\nAt nine, Priyamvada Mehra was led into the fold of Rampal, a self-proclaimed godman who promised miracle cures and salvation in exchange for submission. What began as her parents' desperate attempt to save her mother’s life soon became something far more sinister—a world where faith became a cage, obedience a virtue and control, absolute.\u003cbr\u003e\nBy thirteen, Priyamvada was a devoted follower. In 2006, she was inside his ashram, used as a human shield during a deadly clash between Rampal’s followers and a rival sect. Questioning was forbidden, loyalty was everything and defiance came at a cost. She endured heartbreaking losses and grew up with a twisted logic of miracles, bans on medical treatment, violent sermons and state-crushing riots.\u003cbr\u003e\nShe witnessed her family fall to pieces under the weight of indoctrination and diseases. For two decades, she stumbled between two treacherous worlds, one ruled by cultic control, and both shaped by patriarchy, caste and class, and the systemic violence they breed.\u003cbr\u003e\nIn The Cost of a Promised Afterlife, Priyamvada Mehra finally tells her story. The memoir exposes how cults take root in a nation of 1.4 billion, and how godmen wield unchecked power. Deeply intersectional in its lens, it lays bare the psychological and physical toll of being led into blind faith as a girl and the long journey of dissenting as a woman in a ‘man’s world’.\u003cbr\u003e\nThis is her truth and her rebellion.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEAN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9788198872586\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePackage Dimensions:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.8 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguages:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50751295947056,"sku":"Prakash_9788198872586","price":560.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0690\/9968\/4144\/files\/916uP0d8UWL.jpg?v=1770646386","url":"https:\/\/www.retailmaharaj.com\/bn\/products\/the-cost-of-a-promised-afterlife-my-escape-from-a-controversial-religious-cult-in-india","provider":"Retail Maharaj","version":"1.0","type":"link"}