Gettin Jiggy With It

Seer tried to molest me: Tamil writer

By P C Vinoj Kumar in Chennai
Monday, 29 November , 2004, 19:35

In a sensational disclosure, noted Tamil writer Anuradha Ramanan has alleged that Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati attempted to sexually abuse her in 1992.
The 56-year old writer issued a five-page statement on Monday describing in detail how she got introduced to the Shankaracharya, and how he had allegedly attempted to abuse her.

According to the writer, she got an invitation from the seer in 1992 to visit the Kanchi math for discussions on launching a Tamil spiritual magazine. “At the first meeting, Jayendrar explained about the magazine and offered to make me its editor.”

Anuradha recalls that she happily agreed to the proposal. Subsequently, she claims to have gone to the math for discussions a few times along with another woman, who she has not identified. In the first few meetings the seer supposedly spoke about only spiritual matters.

However, she was shocked when at one meeting, he allegedly started talking in “vulgar” terms. “When I looked up from my writing, I was shocked to find the seer and the woman who had taken me there in a very intimate position.”

Anuradha alleges that the seer then approached her. When she protested, and began shouting at the seer, the other woman tried to convince her about her “good fortune.” When she tried to leave the place, the seer allegedly threatened her not to reveal about the incident to anyone.

Anuradha claims to have informed one of her friends, “a top lady police officer,” on what happened to her at the math. “The officer comforted me and asked me to give a written complaint. But I hesitated to lodge a complaint. I did not want to damage the reputation of the math, which was being held in high esteems by crores of people.”

The writer says that she had fallen unconscious even as she was speaking to the officer. “I was rushed to the hospital,” she recalls.

Anuradha also alleged that she received threats from the seer as well as promises of huge money to buy her silence.

Yes I was expecting this——first violence (murder) and then sex. But hey how do we know that the allegations have any speck of truth in them ? (this lady maybe a publicity seeking pyscho for all we know). Well for now I choose to believe her mainly because I love a good old scandal involving public figures….and if there is a trace of threesome/orgy in the mix.. well I am a believer !

There is something about morally orthodox religious figures and the sins of the flesh that seem to make them inseparable : the more the former fulminate against the latter , more are they driven to them. Rampant pedophilia among the Catholic clergy, homosexual excesses in religious orders of many religions, sexual peccadilloes of the Television Evangelists and now this scandal against the highest Hindu monk—-the more they tighten the screws on everyone else the more lax they themselves are. Besides Mullah Omar and my wife–both of whom have perfect parity between the orthodoxy they follow in their private lives and the orthrodoxy they impose on others I find all other moral figures of authority to be supreme hypocrites following two lines of behavior–one for themselves and one for others.

Well what can we do for the Shankaracharya? Christina Aguilera will be visiting India to discover her (yes you guessed it) spirituality. …and as she says “If you aint dirty you aint here to party”………..need I say more !