Rano Gayley interviewed by Naosherwan Anzar soon after Meher Baba dropped His body in 1969

Madeline (Rano) Gayley, daughter of Estelle (Nonny) Gayley was an artist who had worked for some years designing fabrics in New York. Rano was destined to serve the Avatar as one of the women mandali in Meherazad. In 1940, during the Bangalore stay Rano, under Meher Baba’s direction, worked on the Ten Circles chart which she had begun a few years before in Nasik. She had also begun another large painting of Baba wearing a turban. One day in January, when she was finishing this painting, she somehow did not feel satisfied with the expression in Baba’s eyes. Baba happened to come to her room right at that moment and Rano expressed her quandary. Baba himself picked up a brush, mixed some color and dabbed a bit on the left eye in the painting, instantly improving the expression! “Now don't touch it!” he declared. It was perfect.

In 1969, an incident happened to Rano. She brought a watercolor of the “Mastery In Servitude” emblem that she had done for Adi Irani Jr.  She wanted Baba to touch it before she mailed it. Baba did so and expressed that He was pleased, and then gestured, “Embrace Me.” Rano later recollected: “Baba looked so fragile then that I was almost afraid to touch Him, so I touched Him very lightly. But when He embraced me, it was the strong embrace of the old days.” It was the last embrace she had from Baba.

Rano passed away on December 5, 1986 at Meherazad.