Letter from James Ivory, Mumbai, India, to Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, 1969 December 31 : typescript signed.

Noting that it's "the last day of 1969" and it's been "rather a good year"; saying tonight he will "go to celebrate 1970 on Asha Seth's ship in the midstream, which has just come from California with its hold-- she says-- full of California wine"; telling her that Zia has arrived and is currently "installed here at the Taj," the expenses of which are upsetting Merchant; recounting their recent trip to Calcutta with Jaikishan Panchal, to meet with singer Usha Iyer; describing in detail an evening with Satyajit Ray and his family-- "the Maestro, Mrs. Maestro, and Maestro, Jr."-- at the venerable Trincas Restaurant in Calcutta, where Iyer was performing; noting a striking degree of "decay" and "squalor" in Calcutta-- "Bombay, compared to Calcutta, is a splendid, thriving, modern city"; saying he has seen the Maestro's newest film, in which Aparna has a brief appearance, and pronouncing one of the stars-- "Toad Begum"-- "more or less ok"; admitting he liked the film "enormously," in spite of its portrayal of "childlike behavior among grown-up, supposedly with-it people"; wondering if they could cast Robi Ghosh as the Swami, and pair him with "Mrs. Kendal" [Laura Liddel, Jnnifer and Felicity Kendal's mother]; addressing her suggestion to drop certain scenes from the script; entreating her to "Leave off worrying now. This is our shortest script, full of action, with a very straight-forward story. Please leave it to me."