Relatives Sister to Meher Baba Name Mani Irani | Role Meher Baba's sister Siblings Meher Baba | |
 | ||
Born 15 December 1918 Pune, India Died August 19, 1996, Meherazad Books God-Brother: Stories from My Childhood With Meher Baba Parents Shireen Irani, Sheriar Irani Similar People Meher Baba, Eruch Jessawala, Bhau Kalchuri, Francis Brabazon | ||
Mani Irani
Manija Sheriar Irani (15 December 1918 – 19 August 1996) was the younger sister of Indian spiritual master Meher Baba, and one of his mandali. She was chairman of the Avatar Meher Baba Trust and the author of 82 Family Letters.
Contents
Besides Meher Baba's chief woman disciple Mehera Irani, Mani Irani was said by Meher Baba to be his second-closest woman disciple and his spiritual sister. Mani was one of only four women out of twenty companions to accompany Meher Baba in his New Life phase, beginning in October 1949. By Meher Baba's directive given during his lifetime her remains are buried adjacent to Baba's samadhi in Meherabad, India.
Early life
Mani was born in Pune, India, the sixth and last child of Sheriar and Shireen Irani. Sheriar and Shireen had one earlier daughter Freiny who died of plague as a small child in 1902. Thus Mani was Meher Baba's only surviving sister and the youngest in her family. Meher Baba was 24 years old when Mani was born, a period when he was still under the care of sadguru Upasni Maharaj in Sakori outside Ahmednagar. By the time Mani was old enough to know about her famous brother, he was already attracting disciples of his own in Meherabad. Mani attended Catholic school and longed to accompany her brother and live in his ashram as his disciple even as a young girl. She wrote persistently to him, pleading to be allowed to come. Finally Baba made it possible through difficult family negotiations with their mother Shireen who was worried about Mani's safety and health in the austere and harsh desert life of Baba's ashram outside Ahmednagar. As a result of such efforts Mani joined her brother as a full resident disciple in September 1932 at the age of only 13.