Govind Raghunath Dabholkar, Hemadpant: - "In 1910, Govind Raghunath Dabholkar came to Shirdi. He saw a miracle in which Sai Baba prevented the Cholera disease from making the people of Shirdi sick. Baba did this by grinding wheat on a grindstone and spreading it around the borders of the town. The first and second chapters of this book tell the story of how Dabholkar became impressed with Sai Baba. Baba also changed his name to Hemadpant. After witnessing many such miracles, Hemadpant decided to write them down in a book in his native language - Marathi. In 1916, Sai Baba gave his consent to this book writing project by saying: "You have my full consent to write my life history. Take notes and keep them. If my leelas are recorded, sins committed through ignorance will be dissolved. When my leelas are heard and/or read with love and devotion, the cares and troubles of worldly life will be forgotten." Hemadpant wrote the Sai Sat Charita at his house which he named 'Sai Niwas (home)' in Bandra, Mumbai. Even today, 100 years later this home 'Sai Niwas' continues to follow the tradition of Sai Bhakti (devotion). This home is mentioned in the story of chapter 40 where another miracle is mentioned. The desk on which Hemadpant wrote the manuscript of the Sai Sat Charita is well preserved and is placed in the same room in Sai Niwas on which he sat and wrote the Sai Sat Charita. Besides the desk, other items such as Hemadpant's turban, etc. have also been well preserved.Hemadpant is believed to have begun writing the Sri Sai Sat Charita in 1922. He died after finishing the 51st Chapter in 1929."
Gunaji, Nagesh Vasudev: - Shri N.V. Gunaji was a great scholar who wrote over 28 books on various people and issues. He was very interested in the spiritual teachings of Sai Baba, Sri Ramana Maharshi and Sri Ramkrishna Paramhansa. He wrote and translated the Bhagwad Gita, the Bhagwat, etc. He has written the life of Sri Paramhans Ramakrishna as well as that of Sri Ramana Maharshi in Marathi and several books on the teaching of Swami Ramtirth. He also translated Booker T. Washington's biography which he called "Atmoddhar". He was born in Belgaum city in Karnataka state in India in July 1873. He did his school education in Belgaum, in Sardar High School and later graduated from Mumbai's Wilson College. He studied in the Government Law College in Mumbai and passed his LLB (Bachelor of Law) examination. Soon after, he returned to Belgaum to become a Lawyer. After practising law for several years Shri N.V. Gunaji also joined the Belgaum Municipality (City Government) as Chief Executive Officer. Throughout his life he was a non-stop reader and translated several books in English or Marathi. Shri Gunaji was also keenly interested in naturopathy and published two books on "Scientific and Efficient Breathing" and "Anti T.B. & Anti Heart Failure". He would treat patients through naturopathy and scientific massage. He was lucky to get a chance to treat Mahatma Gandhi by his scientific massage techniques. Mahatma Gandhi was the leader of India's struggle for freedom from the British rule. Shri Gunaji also treated Sri Ramana Maharshi when he visited the spiritual leader in Arunachalam. Shri N.V. Gunaji adapted and translated Shri Hemand Pant Dabholkar's "Sri Sai Satcharita" into English and donated all the earned money to the Sai Sansthan Trust (temple in Shirdi). The book has reached out to thousands of devotees and people over the last forty five years who have read it and have had their faith and Shraddha in Baba reinforced. Many devotees use this book to read it as a 'Saptah'. Shri N.V. Gunaji passed away in 1963, a few months before his ninetieth year.
Joshi Awalgaonkar, Ishwar: - Ishwar Joshi Awalgaonkar has been a Bhakta (Devotee) since having a blissful experiencing at the age of 10 while growing up in Bharat (India). He has had several such experiences since then as he lived in India, Dubai & USA. He is a Hindu and has read the holy books of all the major world religions: Gita, Vedas, Upanishads (Hinduism), Bible (Christianity), Quran (Islam), Dhammapada (Buddhism), Akaranga Sutra (Jainism), Tanakh (Judaism), Guru Granth Sahib (Sikhism), Tao te Ching (Taoism), Kojiki (Shinto) & Zend Avesta (Zoroastrianism).Ishwar is a Software Engineering Manager for Google in California. Before this, he was a Software Engineer at Microsoft, Ericsson, Symantec, Anheuser Busch and other companies in Dubai and India. He also co-founded several startups where he filed patents and built unique and innovative Apps. Ishwar majored in English and History. He has read and self-studied the book 'The Art of Computer Programming' which is among the top twenty scientific monographs of the last century along with The Collected Papers of Einstein.He does Transcendental Meditation, Pranayama and Yoga. He has run a Full Marathon of 26.2 miles / 42.1 kms, earned a Red belt in Tae Kwon Do and climbed Mt. Rainier 14,400 feet. In his spare time these days, he likes to ride his SuperSport Motorcycle.Ishwar is happily married to Pallavi and they live with their two daughters Samriddhi and Samraadni in the San Francisco Bay Area.
