grandmother and part saint. It was Alo who wrote my name in calligraphy on the day I was born; she blessed me, meditated on me, and had given me countless presents.
Ketan relished my openmouthed shock.
“You know how Alo's not really around that much anymore? That's done on purpose,” he said.
It was true that Alo spent little time in New York, and when she was in town, various disciples, including my family, were asked by Guru to take Alo on long outings, purposelycausing her to miss Guru's day appointments and evening functions. Most of the time, however, Alo wasn't in New York at all. She was in Puerto Rico, a second home for her, or she was on visits back to Canada, or working on her biggest project—arranging the Christmas trip. What began as a one-week visit to Florida, the Christmas trip had become an annual monthlong end-of-year spiritual retreat for Guru and a group of disciples to locations from South America and the Pacific Islands and beyond. Since children were not allowed to go, I loathed the event that left me at the airport, in tears, waving good-bye to Guru, all my disciple friends, and worst of all, my mother. Sometimes my father went, and a few times, they both went, leaving us to stay at the house of a disciple who had no clue as to what to do with two children. On one of those occasions I ended up in an emergency room for a tetanus shot after a horse chomped my behind when my appointed caregiver had dropped me off at a farm to explore.
“That's right,” Ketan said, as if reading my thoughts. “Guru keeps her away on purpose. She nags him and is really jealous. She wants everything to be about her, too. But, really, how could it be? Seekers wouldn't understand. They'd see two thrones up on stage and think they're married. People don't get the fact that Guru and Alo aren't like that. And even about Alo and Guru living together. People would think that they're, you know,
together.
It's crazy. Alo is on the third floor and Guru is on the second. But still, people think
that
way.”
What way? Although I didn't understand, I needed him to continue.
According to Ketan's unnamed sources, Alo resented the fact that Guru was getting so much press and had many new disciples all over the world. As Guru's position and statusgrew, Alo found her own position diminished. In order for Guru to avoid dispensing to the public the complicated answer to the question of who Alo was, Alo was strategically tucked away. When Guru gave public lectures, Alo now sat in the audience. Alo's shrinking role had become enforced in private, too. Even at the church, on the shrine area originally fitted for two, now Guru's throne alone dominated the stage, and for the occasions that Alo came back to town, a small white wicker chair was placed near the dais's edge, and then mysteriously vanished when she was sent off again.
But, according to Ketan, what made Alo the most outraged was the influx of
gopis,
female disciples, who were always at her and Guru's house. In particular, it was my idol, Prema, and her counterpart, Isha, whose constant presence and elevated status irritated Alo the most. Though they were not related, nor friends, Prema and Isha, two women in their early thirties, like it or not were linked together. Guru had made them his two favorite disciples. Although Guru tried to keep their rank equal—he hadn't made a specific order for them—it was clear to all of us, and Alo, too, that they were his number one and number two devotees. Precisely because Guru never formally solidified their order, Prema and Isha were always battling to claim the title of Guru's number one. At times, they conducted their power struggle publicly. An ongoing competition was who would receive prasad first. When Guru called for prasad, both women slowly rose, straightened out the
pallu,
draped it across their backs like a shawl, then languidly moved toward Guru with folded hands. A few times they bumped into each other in the process,
Ketan relished my openmouthed shock.
“You know how Alo's not really around that much anymore? That's done on purpose,” he said.
It was true that Alo spent little time in New York, and when she was in town, various disciples, including my family, were asked by Guru to take Alo on long outings, purposelycausing her to miss Guru's day appointments and evening functions. Most of the time, however, Alo wasn't in New York at all. She was in Puerto Rico, a second home for her, or she was on visits back to Canada, or working on her biggest project—arranging the Christmas trip. What began as a one-week visit to Florida, the Christmas trip had become an annual monthlong end-of-year spiritual retreat for Guru and a group of disciples to locations from South America and the Pacific Islands and beyond. Since children were not allowed to go, I loathed the event that left me at the airport, in tears, waving good-bye to Guru, all my disciple friends, and worst of all, my mother. Sometimes my father went, and a few times, they both went, leaving us to stay at the house of a disciple who had no clue as to what to do with two children. On one of those occasions I ended up in an emergency room for a tetanus shot after a horse chomped my behind when my appointed caregiver had dropped me off at a farm to explore.
“That's right,” Ketan said, as if reading my thoughts. “Guru keeps her away on purpose. She nags him and is really jealous. She wants everything to be about her, too. But, really, how could it be? Seekers wouldn't understand. They'd see two thrones up on stage and think they're married. People don't get the fact that Guru and Alo aren't like that. And even about Alo and Guru living together. People would think that they're, you know,
together.
It's crazy. Alo is on the third floor and Guru is on the second. But still, people think
that
way.”
What way? Although I didn't understand, I needed him to continue.
According to Ketan's unnamed sources, Alo resented the fact that Guru was getting so much press and had many new disciples all over the world. As Guru's position and statusgrew, Alo found her own position diminished. In order for Guru to avoid dispensing to the public the complicated answer to the question of who Alo was, Alo was strategically tucked away. When Guru gave public lectures, Alo now sat in the audience. Alo's shrinking role had become enforced in private, too. Even at the church, on the shrine area originally fitted for two, now Guru's throne alone dominated the stage, and for the occasions that Alo came back to town, a small white wicker chair was placed near the dais's edge, and then mysteriously vanished when she was sent off again.
But, according to Ketan, what made Alo the most outraged was the influx of
gopis,
female disciples, who were always at her and Guru's house. In particular, it was my idol, Prema, and her counterpart, Isha, whose constant presence and elevated status irritated Alo the most. Though they were not related, nor friends, Prema and Isha, two women in their early thirties, like it or not were linked together. Guru had made them his two favorite disciples. Although Guru tried to keep their rank equal—he hadn't made a specific order for them—it was clear to all of us, and Alo, too, that they were his number one and number two devotees. Precisely because Guru never formally solidified their order, Prema and Isha were always battling to claim the title of Guru's number one. At times, they conducted their power struggle publicly. An ongoing competition was who would receive prasad first. When Guru called for prasad, both women slowly rose, straightened out the
pallu,
draped it across their backs like a shawl, then languidly moved toward Guru with folded hands. A few times they bumped into each other in the process,
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