Gustadji Nusserwanji Hansotia holds a unique place among Meher Baba's mandali: a devoted seeker, he had a close association with three of the five Perfect Masters of the age: Sai Baba of Shirdi, Upasani Maharaj, and Hazrat Babajan. Born on February 20, 1890, in the small village of Hansot in Gujarat, he was sent to live with his aunt in Mumbai for his education but quit school when he was in the third standard. When his father died in 1905, the fifteen-year-old Gustadji began working various jobs in Mumbai, including a position with photographer A. B. Mehta, and took lessons in singing and playing the harmonium.

Gustadji was drawn to Sai Baba after seeing his photograph, and during a visit with his brother at Deolali near Nasik the two went to Shirdi. From 1910 onward he visited the saint occasionally. In April 1917, he met Meher Baba for the first time in Mumbai at a foundation ceremony where Upasani Maharaj was present. Merwanji's insights made a deep impression on him, but Merwanji left Mumbai that same day. He was present when Sai Baba died on October 15, 1918, and witnessed the funeral. Two months later, in December 1918, Upasani Maharaj instructed him to leave Sakori and join 'Merwan Seth' in Poona and obey his orders.

A fakir at heart, Gustadji was notably indifferent to his physical appearance. He would wear the same faded coat over a torn sadra (thin muslin shirt) with only one pair of patched trousers. He never wore a cap; whether in scorching afternoon sun or bitter winter cold, he would simply tie a handkerchief around his head for protection.

Gustadji's devotion to the Perfect Masters was extraordinary. He spent nights with Babajan under her neem tree, attending to her every need—carrying wood to make fire to keep her warm and arranging, through Merwan Seth, a wooden platform for her. Once, when Meher Baba gave Babajan a mattress, she roamed the streets of Poona that first night with Gustadji following, carrying the mattress on his head. When it rained, the mattress became heavier, and Babajan made him stand with it on his head to let it dry, saying it was precious because her 'son' Merwan had given it to her.

On May 1, 1927, an event occurred that would define the rest of Gustadji's life. After he became upset and went on abusing Buasaheb for over two hours, Baba ordered him: 'From now on, you are to remain silent.' Baba explained that his observance of silence would be most helpful for Baba's work, instructing him to be silent for Baba's sake. Gustadji maintained this silence for thirty years, until his death in 1957, communicating only through hand gestures.

Meher Baba held Gustadji in the highest regard, once garlanding his photograph himself and declaring, 'To garland Gustadji is to garland Me.' Baba also stated that Gustadji was 'fully prepared for Realization' and that 'The only thing needed is to tear open the veil.' Baba praised Gustadji's extraordinary patience, saying that even a mahayogi would not have such patience—to observe maun (silence), to refrain from reading, writing, and to live without work was a yoga that Baba himself said He could not have done.

When Gustadji passed away on October 30, 1957, Meher Baba declared: 'My old dear friend and silent companion Gustadji whilst dropping his body realized me as I really am.' He is interred at the Men's Cemetery at Lower Meherabad, having lived his final thirty years in perfect silence as an offering to his Master.