Reporter’s choice of monicker is very ironic. I don’t know what it’s experience with real journalists is, but I know quite a few. One quality that all good reporters share is a high dose of scepticism.

What this means is that Prem Rawat’s possibilities for success are self-limiting – a direct result of his own poor historical choices. Should he at some point gain any real attention, his house of cards will come tumbling down. EPO and friends might make that easier, but even without their existence, even without the existence of the internet, his past would return to haunt him.

At best he will always be a sideline player. His strongest move is to stay below the radar of public scrutiny while maximising whatever potential there is in the limited remaining space.

Maybe he knows this and the great propagation promises are only there to fuel false hope amongst his followers. If this is true, it is a cruel trick. Leverage this hope in his followers as a way of squeezing more money out of them, while blaming them for the continued failure of its realisation.