Letter from Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, to James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, Wilmington, North Carolina, 1997 December 10 : autograph manuscript signed.

Admonishing them both-- using the enclosed articles as evidence-- to be very careful when they arrive in India: "no shouting, no boasting, just creeping along as if you've never heard of films or crores of rupees"; noting "Jhab says it's like Capone's Chicago"; continuing, "everyone knows what everyone is up to and how much they're worth-- so if you come, come in disguise and not as the usual Ismail Merchant. Jim, please warn him [underlined]"; commenting on "Three Sisters" [which appears to be an unidentified transposition of the Chekhov play to colonial British India]; recounting with amusement how she recently received a call from the British Embassy asking if, were she offered a CBE, would she accept it?; noting that "the [air] pollution [in Delhi] is terrible" but she doesn't really go out, instead staying inside with her books; commenting on the scripts for "A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries" and "The Golden Bowl."