Early Life
Mani was born in Pune, India, the sixth and last child of Sheriar Mundegar Irani and Shireen Sheriar Irani. Sheriar and Shireen had one earlier daughter Freiny who died of plague at the age of six 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.
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