The Guru Who Came Down from the Mountain: A Novel [Paperback] Roshen Dalal

A wonderful book, content- as well as languagewise. Learned and suspenseful in equal measure. Just my choice of a book.Roswitha Joshi

An edge of the seat psychological thriller by Roshen Dalal. Very relevant to the present times that has seen public downfall of some of the most influential and well connected 'gurus'Roshen nails it in her maiden attempt at fiction.One is is already looking forward to the sequel!!

Many of those of us who came of age during the 70’s and 80’s remember when we rushed to India to find enlightenment. We shopped for our personal guru, joined an ashram, and often helped our guru establish a retreat center back in the United States. We became devotees, dramatically changed our lives, and lived in communities. Many of our communities caused scandals in the local neighborhoods and sometimes our gurus were caught in crime. Well-known history writer Roshen Dalal brings alive that period in our lives in her first novel, The Guru who Came Down from the Mountain: A Novel. The novel tells the story of the Guru, Dev, his transformation from an innocent teacher to a beloved Guru eventually besieged by scandal and ultimately by an untimely death. The characters of Dev and his faithful follower Nityananda are juxtaposed as Dev’s story unfolds and Nityananda becomes increasingly disillusioned until eventually his devotion dies. The story takes us from Dev’s humble beginnings to his marriage to his beloved Gita and her mysterious death, to his time in an ashram led by foreigners, to his life in Delhi with Cynthia, to his transformation into a Guru and his travel to the United States where he establishes a series of ashrams, to his scandals, and to his ultimate demise. His body guard is a drug and arms trafficker whose earnings help Dev’s “gurudom” grow. Dev is accused of sexual abuse, of murder, of corruption and is forced to return to India to live a quiet life and die. Still, despite the scandals, he remained a “god” to many and hundreds came to say their last goodbyes.Roshen’s descriptions transfixed me as I became lost in Dev’s story and remembered my own so long ago in India. Roshen’s expertise as a historian and also as a seeker who has spent many years also following spiritual teachers is brought to her text as she explains through Dev’s and Nitya’s eyes the many facets of yogic teachings and Hindu spiritual beliefs. Her descriptions of Dev and Nitya compared to the expatriates who they associate with are stark reminders of the clash of cultures and values and of the exploitation of yogis during those years of “the search for truth” of the boomer generation. Based on her own experience and acute ability as a storyteller, Roshen has created a masterful novel that tells of an important time when the cultures both in the United States and in India were undergoing radical change. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who lived through those times or anyone who wants to take a journey into a critical time in history.