Letter from Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, to James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, New York, New York, 1967 May 8: autograph manuscript signed.

Realizing that she has been writing to Ivory in New York when he was in Dinuba; thnking them for the birthday telegrams they sent her, and describing Merchant's in particular, as seeming to embody him-- "even your name came out as AIMAIL, which is rather good, really, combining Ismail with the dash and speed of Airmail"; pointing out that Merchant hasn't written her in weeks, but insisting she isn't angry with him-- yet; commenting on the profile of Ooty [i.e. Udhagamandalam] in the New Yorker, which she found boring and irritating, apart from a single E.M. Forster quote; moving on savage to "an absolutely ridiculous book called 'Two Under the Indian Sun' by Rumer & Jon Godden"; saying one of the John Murrays (specifically John Murray VII) of John Murray Publishing house was in Delhi recently; describing him as about 24, as English as they come [...] good Laurence material, in fact," and saying she took the opportunity to question him about English village fêtes; musing on how to use this new information in the "Shakespeare Wallah" sequel, and pitching a technique she would like to use, where the dialogue in a scene is entirely independent of what is being seen onscreen.