I met Radhe Maa for an interview. This is how she shocked me

There is a shade of red for everyone, they say. But for Radhe Maa, red is her only colour. Everything about this self-styled godwoman is red - from her flashy clothes, lipstick to the lift that takes you to her four-storey bungalow in Borivali, the furniture in it, fans, curtains, ceiling, floor et al. There is nothing  that's not painted in red.

But these are details that the entire country knows by now. There are many such personal details about Radhe Maa that have become public ever since she came under the scanner in 2015 for several criminal charges, including alleged offences under the Dowry Act, indecency, fooling people for money and driving farmers to suicide.

However, when I went to meet her, the controversial godwoman displayed more shades of her character.

I first got to know about Radhe Maa through a big hoarding at Mumbai’s Western Express Highway a few years back. Later following the controversies and viral videos in 2015, I too, like everyone else, curiously devoured stories about her life. Who she was and how she became Radhe Maa - a normal girl, Sukhvinder Kaur, born in a village in Punjab and married at the age of 17. By the time she was 20, she was a mother of two children. The family’s financial condition was so bad that she used to work as a tailor to make ends meet (her husband had left for the Gulf looking for job opportunities leaving Sukhvinder and the kids behind). At 23, she became a disciple of Mahant Ram Deen Das of 1008 Paramhans Bagh Dera Mukerian in Hoshiarpur district. It's Das who gave her the title of Radhe Maa and her followers believe she is an avatar of goddess Durga.

Our interview was scheduled at the Radhe Maa Bhavan in Borivali West late in the night. As the India Today crew reached her bungalow, we found it surrounded by burly private security guards. At the main entrance, the head security guard, who had prior information about the interview, informed her closest aide Talli Baba after which we were allowed to enter the Radhe Maa Bhavan.

(Just an observation: Although the word "talli" in Marathi has a different connotation, we were told that it means "ghanta", a bell, in Punjabi.) 

As we entered the sprawling bungalow with a "royal" garden and luxury cars parked around it, we were first asked to take off our shoes (for her devotees the place is a temple of Radhe Maa).

At the entrance, there is temple of goddess Durga. Talli Baba took us inside it and said that the clothes of the goddess have been stitched by the daughters-in-law of Radhe Maa.

We then entered the lift that was, needless to say, painted in red. As we got out of the lift on the fourth floor, another temple of goddess Durga greeted us. This, they said, was the main temple. As we moved ahead, the sprawling place revealed thematically decorated rooms - one after another. We were finally taken to a room where there was a small temple and a photograph of Radhe Maa's mother-in-law placed in it. We could hear Radhe Maa’s songs playing in the background.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from her. I was also wondering if she would start a long sermon on religion. But nothing of that sort happened. I was told that I could ask as many questions during the interview in the room where she normally meets her bhakts. Just as she entered and we started our conversation, I soon realised this was going to be completely different interview - an experience I never had before.

While talking to her, I came to know that she has been consulting a shrink. She even told us that she is on medication. Radhe Maa looked visibly disturbed with the controversies surrounding her. She told us that apart from being a "godwoman" she is also a "normal human being" with "normal feelings". And that she too gets hurt.

Interestingly, while we were interviewing her, devotees with folded hands were sitting on the ground. I easily recognised two of them - the famous businessman, MM Mithaiwala, and the owner of Global Advertiser, Sanjeev Gupta.

Sadly, the interview had to be stopped midway as she started crying and walked away. This happened when I started asking her about the recent controversies surrounding her.

Even though the video of the interview received unprecedented views - crossed 1 million views already on Facebook, when I checked last - I still couldn't understand what it is that draws her devotees towards her? Or why is she always at the centre of a storm? She says there is a conspiracy to defame her. But is this not her own doing? 

Is it just another case of a carefully cultivated image which, like all godmen and godwomen in the recent past, cracked and revealed a fragile Sukhvinder, who was sobbing in front of me?

She surely remains an enigma to me.

Also read: Why it's disturbing to see Radhe Maa sitting in a Delhi police officer's chair