Sai Sharan Anand

Vaman Prangovind Patel was born in 1889 in Gujarat. He first came to Baba in December 1911 as a young student, brought to Shirdi by family friends. Baba drew him close at once, and from then on guided his studies, career and spiritual life. Patel later said that Baba knew every thought in his mind.

On Baba's advice he continued his studies and became a lawyer, practising in Bombay and Ahmedabad. He visited Shirdi often, and after the Mahasamadhi he remained deeply devoted, serving the Shirdi Sansthan and writing about Baba. He was known for his careful, honest record of what he had seen with his own eyes.

In 1953 he took sannyas and became Swami Sai Sharan Anand. He wrote a detailed life of Baba in Gujarati, later translated into English as "Shri Sai the Superman", which remains one of the most trusted accounts by an eyewitness. He passed away in 1982, having served Baba for seventy years.