Letter from Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, to James Ivory, Mumbai, India, 1970 May 8 : autograph manuscript signed.

Comparing her options in life to the three options presented in a 18th-century memoir for women past their youth (namely "gaming, study, and the pleasures of the table"); specifying that she has chosen study; connecting that to the "Hindu tradition [...] that all study must be taken under the guidance of a teacher"; confessing that she has been suffering and struggling to read some of the material she's selected lately; sympathizing that he has been "stuck there in Bombay on your own" and wishing that he could visit Delhi for a weekend ("if Ismail [Merchant] can fly across the world for 5 weeks, surely you can afford to be in Delhi for a day or two?"); describing what they would do if he were to visit; sharing that she now owns a transistor radio; replying to a recent telegram where he said something was "all untrue"; discussing possible titles for their latest film, including "Stars and Fate", "Fate Machine" and "Bombay Talkie", the latter of which is her preference; suggesting he contact George Trow and others to influence Merchant to also like the title; asking whether he remembers the film star Dorothy McGuire, who is married to John Swope; discussing her encounter with them during a dinner party at "Welthy Fisher's, the Literacy Lady's"; complimenting McGuire's appearance ("she has exquisite features, really, perfect") and her personality; recounting how their car broke down on the way back from the party and McGuire and Swope needed to help them push it "outside Vice-Regal Lodge"; asking for his thoughts on a picture of an awards ceremony she previously sent featuring "Dravidians" at Rashtrapati Bhavan (see MA 23840.543); asking for Ismail's address.