Letter from James Ivory, Mumbai, India, to Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, 1970 July 5 : typescript signed, with corrections in ink.

Describing the current conditions in his hotel room and Ismail Merchant's mood; recounting various recent social engagements including drinks aboard the "Indian naval ship Mysore" then "pilao at Shama Hussain's house (Mrs. Raj from Householder)"; describing a gathering at "the Noonans ... arranged by Asa Seth", at which Madhur Jaffrey, Sanford Allen, and others were present; during which they watched "a 16mm film ... about an exhibition of extremely avant garde art being installed in the Museum of Modern Art" and "ate a strange dinner"; describing an invitation to Didi Contractor's house for a sarangi concert, performed by Ram Narain [i.e. Ram Narayan], "who is a great friend of hers", and his son [i.e. Brij Narayan], who played the sarod; relating a conversation with Myra Binford about The Sword and the Flute and how "if I were to make that film again I'd do it ever so differently"; stating that he likes Didi's husband, Narayan Contractor, enormously; describing the next evening which he spent at Shammi Kapoor's where they "had such a nice time -- if a drunken one -- that one almost wanted to go again"; discussing characters and how to progress the story of a film [i.e. Bombay Talkie] they are working on; in a postscript, describing how he purchased a birthday card and a "beautiful Canton bowl without a crack or chip in its 200-year-old surface"; and how he talked to Renana [i.e. Renana Jhabvala, Ruth's daughter] about her recent trip to London and Oxford.