Vir Sanghvi, you are correct in stating that the impersonation as God is a bad thing. I dont believe that this man is some avatar of god. He does a lot of charity work, his hospital treats for free etc etc so he may not be a bad guy, but that does not make him god. That Sai is not god is obvious from the fact that he had Sarkar thrown out. Which god would do something like that? And yes, which god would be afraid of a challenge from a 'mere human' ? That action is very 'human' and not at all 'god-like'. His miracles are most likely tricks, but you better not try to convince people, for Indians are dangerously religious and statements to such effect shall not be taken lightly by his fanatic followers. People love being bedazzled; they dont like being woken from that state. And if no one is getting hurt due to his practices, let it just continue .... they love it and he loves their attention. Win win situation. For people that dont believe in him (like me and you), just ignore him. For us it makes for good entertainment. A win win again. PS : You have no doubt formed the impression that I am a hardcore materialist. Let me close thus : I do not believe that the world beings and ends with Newtonian laws. Its just that I dont believe the claims of this particular person Sathya Sai Baba.