Ramchandra Bapuji Kale, affectionately known as Kalemama, was one of Meher Baba's earliest mandali, who first met Baba in 1926, and possessed the rare distinction of having met four Perfect Masters during his lifetime: Sai Baba of Shirdi, Upasani Maharaj of Sakori, Narayan Maharaj of Kedgaon, and Meher Baba himself.

Born on February 12, 1877, in Kolhapur, Kalemama came from an influential Brahmin family with connections to the royal court—his father served as Head Clerk in the Personal Office of the Maharaja of Kolhapur. This privileged upbringing provided him with excellent education, and he graduated as a Civil Engineer from Poona Science College in 1903. During the British Raj, this qualification promised a distinguished career, and Kalemama held many important positions including Chief Executive Officer of Kolhapur Municipal Corporation, Estate Engineer at Ballarshah, Chief Officer of Dhule Municipal Corporation, and State Engineer at Akkalkote Sansthan.

Kalemama's spiritual journey began before he met Meher Baba. In 1908-1909, while supervising construction work at Burhanpur, he had darshan of Narayan Maharaj at the railway station. In December 1910, during the winter holidays, he first visited Shirdi with friends and had Sai Baba's darshan. In early 1911 he returned to Shirdi with his elder brother Anna to seek Sai Baba's approval for a proposed marriage between Anna and Mr. Bhate's daughter. During this visit, Sai Baba made a cryptic remark to Kalemama: 'You are one amongst us', words whose significance would only become clear later in his life.

In May 1926, while serving as Chief Officer to the Dhulia City Municipality, Kalemama came across Sat Samagam (Face-to-Face with the Truth), a Marathi booklet written by Goma Ganesh, one of the Meherabad teachers. A relation invited him to Meherabad, where he had his first darshan of Meher Baba. This 'chance' meeting had a far-reaching effect—he felt an unspeakable urge to see Baba as often as possible.

On November 30, 1929, Kalemama came to Nasik with his wife Janki and elder brother Annasaheb Kale. Baba personally looked after them and ordered the best arrangements for their stay, recognizing that all three were destined to become permanent members of his mandali. By 1933 Kalemama had come with his family to live in the Family Quarters at Meherabad.

Kalemama's engineering expertise proved invaluable to Baba's work. He supervised numerous construction activities at Meherabad and later at Bangalore, contributing his professional skills to building the physical infrastructure of Baba's ashrams. On June 21, 1949, on the eve of the Great Seclusion, Kalemama had the honor of reading the Bhagavad Gita for Baba.

In March 1934 Janki became seriously ill with heart trouble. When Baba visited her on March 13, she felt so happy that she forgot her pain. Baba assured her: 'You will be freed tomorrow. Do not worry.' At 3:30 AM that night (March 14), she was freed forever by the God-Man. Baba included her name in His list of 120 dear departed souls as a token of love and gratitude. After his wife's death, Kalemama moved to the men mandali's quarters and lived there for the rest of his life.

In 1939, while staying at his daughter's place in Panchgani, Kalemama wrote his memoirs documenting his meetings with the Perfect Masters—a precious historical record. In December 1941, Baba sent him to Sakori to attend the last rites of Upasani Maharaj when the Sadguru dropped his body.

On 29 June 1954, Baba paid particular attention to Kalemama during a visit to Ahmednagar, seemingly coming all the way just to see him. Despite being 78 years old and in apparent good health, Kalemama departed this life at Meherabad two months later, on 16 August 1954. His genial temperament, his unique connection to multiple Perfect Masters, and his decades of service made him one of the most respected members of the mandali. His son Murli continued the family's connection to Baba as a New Life companion, praised by Baba for his exemplary and jolly mood during the hardships of that difficult journey.