Letter from Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, to James Ivory, Mumbai, India, 1970 August 3: autograph manuscript signed.

Sympathizing with his current distress, which she postulates is being exacerbated by "your quarrels with Ismail and your fears about things that may never happen"; suggesting that it may be best if Ismail leaves town; encouraging him to participate in the New York Film Festival only if it's possible; recounting a conversation she had with the operator at the Taj Mahal Hotel and "the trunk call operator" during a call that was cut short when her interlocutor (possibly Ivory?) lost his temper; comparing his current mental state and responses to what happens when "those hideous urchins that follow one around" provoke people into losing their tempers; encouraging him to "please be as calm as you can"; considering how she and Ismail will likely be unable to meet before he leaves; reflecting on why Ismail feels as frustrated as she believes he feels; wondering how other filmmaking teams manage to work together; encouraging him to separate himself from the work ("I hate it when you say that you identify yourself with the film, that when government officials are threatening to harm the film, it's as if they were harming you personally. That's not so, and it's self-indulgent of you to say it."); reflecting on the suffering of artists, particularly to that of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn; asking if he has read about François Truffant's new film, L'Enfant Sauvage; telling him that she will expect David (Gladwell?) to arrive tomorrow and will pick him up from the airport if he phones.