While at Harmon, on 2 December 1931 Baba assigned each person different duties and chalked out a schedule to be followed at the retreat after his departure. Margaret Mayo had been impressed by Baba. For his work, she had agreed to permit the use of her house for a year, which was to be known as Meherashram .
Norina and Anita were both by now quite enamored of Baba. Nadine, Elizabeth, Malcolm and Jean all had heard his Song and were eager to begin singing it. Baba's purpose of visiting America had been completed as he revealed himself to those who were his. Age marveled at the almost instant surrender of these "new" Western devotees. "Hearts were blooming and lay scattered before the Master's feet like rose petals," Age related.
In Harmon, the topic of making a film on spirituality was brought up for the first time. It would be a topic that would occupy much of Baba's attention over the subsequent few years. The theme of the film was to be according to Baba's explanations of the purpose of creation, the outcome of the universe and the spiritual journey. Margaret Mayo had close connections with the American film industry: Several of her Broadway plays had been adapted for the silent screen, and her play Polly of the Circus became the first film produced in 1917 by the Goldwyn Company, of which she was a founding member along with her former husband Edgar Selwyn, a Broadway producer.
On Thursday, 3 December 1931, Margaret Mayo spoke to Jean and Malcolm about her friend Harry E. Aitken, a movie producer who had worked with the famous director D. W. Griffith. She suggested that he would be a suitable person to organize everything connected with the film, as he was interested in spirituality. She then explained to Baba that she could write a detailed scenario if points were given to her. Baba immediately accepted her offer and began dictating points to her. In about an hour, Baba finished dictating the whole plot — the beginning of creation, the developing stages of evolution, reincarnation and the stories of three characters through five lifetimes to Realization. After reading it to the group, all said it was splendid and it was typed out.
Later that evening, Harry Aitken, 54, was invited over. Baba's story was read out. Impressed, Aitken said it was a grand idea.
"Can it be properly worked out [into a movie]?" Baba asked him.
"Certainly," Aitken assured him, and the film was discussed further. (Aitken suggested the film be shot in India, and that its opening be there also, with Baba in attendance!) Its suggested title was A Touch of Maya .1
Footnotes
- 1.See Appendix A for the screenplay of Baba's idea.