in London and liked his work, so the director was brought on board. However, Pascal soon had misgiv ings and ended up having to chase Baba all over Europe. Although at first he had been interested in the venture as proposed to him in Paris by Norma, after meeting a couple oftimes with her and some of the other women involved, he became more than a little frustrated. A true genius and impatient, he found he could make no headwaywith these Gabriel Pascal women. Norma had been cabling him frequently about the financial backing and other details of the scenario and script and now he was blaming Baba for the constant misunderstandings. He was so frustrated that, when he heard Baba would be in Paris, Pascal became determined to see Baba and tell Him it was all a total waste of time. However, Pascal missed meeting Baba in Paris by one day and Baba left for Switzerland, where Pascal followed him; however, by the time he caught up with Baba, he felt that Baba was giving him the runaround and wasting his time on the entire project. Baba was not even in the house when Pascal arrived and this upset him even more. A phone message then came, instructing Elizabeth to give Pascal a choice peach to eat and to tell him that Baba would be coming soon. This seemingly innocuous gesture had a profound effect upon the man, who later confided that his mother used to save him the best peaches, his favorite fruit. After some while, Baba showed up and called for Pascal. As he entered Baba’s room for his interview, Baba gently smiled and Pascal’s anger melted away. He could only meekly ask Baba, “What do you wish me to do?” Baba had him sit near him, touched his hand and inquired about his work. Now in a peaceftul mood, Pascal told Baba how he had wanted to bring out the expressions ofinner feelings and the deepest being ofman by portraying the spiritual side oflife in a way that had never been done before. Baba remarked, “I saw one ofyour films in London, and noticed how subtlyyou combined humor and pathos. I fully enjoyed it and have often indicated that you are the man to produce my film. You have very deep past connections with me and will work for me in the future, particularly through motion pictures.That is why I myselfhave drawn you to me. You are my Phoenix. [1890] Baba also referred to Pascal as his “Black Panther”! After being with Baba, Gabriel Pascal left feeling happier than he had ever been in his life. “It was all wonderful, wonderful—too wonderful for words,” he later recalled. “I had come like a lion but returned like a lamb!” Discussions about the film project with Pascal and Karl Voll moeller, who had recently arrived, went on continuously for the next three days. Vollmoeller had written a rough draft of a story about seven passengers in an airplane whose pilot represented the Master. Pascal suggested that Baba’s hand be photographed and shown in the film as a special effect, and Baba agreed to this. [1890] Pascal said, “Anything Baba wishes me to do, I will do. I shall make this film. It will be my life’s supreme task. I won’t need a script—I’ll go out with my crew one day into thejungle and we’ll begin shooting. It will be improvised on the spot. I shall show how God lives with men!” Finally finishing His work for war preparations in Europe,
and bringing his film ideas closer to fruition, Baba and his party left England on December 5, boarding the S.S. Majestic, the largest ship in the world at that time. Although Baba was given a splendid stateroom on the B deck, He seldom went out on the ship’s deck in the cold winter weather. Nearing America, Baba made it clear that he did not wish to meet any outsiders while in New York—no new persons, no interviews and no publicity. But Norma Matchabelli had already informed certain people about the Master’s arrival and also intended to publicize his visit. She cabled this to Baba on the ship and Baba cabled back, instructing her to cancel everything and that he would not even grant interviews. When the ship docked in NewYork on December 12, 1934 a group ofnewspaper reporters and photographers tried to invade Baba’s cabin, but he would not meet them and instructed Chanji to send them away. [1926] As often happened with Baba’s arrivals in foreign countries, there was delay in their disembarkation, mostly due to immigra tion officers’ suspicions around His silence. After a long wait, the
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The S.S. Majestic
press gave up and dispersed. When they finally cleared customs Baba was taken to the Hotel Shelton on Lexington Avenue where Norma had arranged for Baba to stay. A meeting concerning the film work took place that day between Baba, Norma, Gabriel Pascal and Karl Vollmoeller. An agreement between the latter two seemed difficult to arrive at. Vollmoeller, the principal screenwriter, wanted the scenario prepared in New York, and Pascal, the director, preferred Hol lywood. Vollmoeller had his offices in New York and Pascal’s were in Hollywood; hence, the conflict. Trying to reconcile the two men’s differences and to get them to work together, Baba instructed, “Both ofyou should fly to Hollywood and meet me there. I will be coming by train later.” Both men consented to do so and left soon afterward. [1929] Tallulah Bankhead was in New York and dropped by the Stokes’ residence in Greenwich Village to see Baba while he was conducting meetings there. After three days in New York, on December 15, Baba and the group took a train westward across America on the Santa Fe Railway, headed for California. Besides the mandali Chanji, Kaka Baria, Adi Sr. and Jal, accompanying him were Elizabeth, Norma, Minta, Nadine, Rano, Nonny and Ruano. During the three and a halfdayjourney to Los Angeles, the train halted in Chicago, Illinois; Omaha, Nebraska; Denver, Colorado; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Baba was headed for Hol lywood and occupied himself by reviewing the film scripts and discussing the variations in plots and characters. When they arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the train delayed leaving the station and suddenly Baba spelled out on his
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