Skip to main content

Posts

Paris skies mid-March

Recent posts

Sunday Walk: on a rainy Sunday

Pop Up Paris

Invalides Louvre Arc de Triomphe Notre-Dame Cathedral Place des Vosges Pompidou Centre Sacre-Coeur Eiffel Tower  

Mr and Mrs Jinnah by Sheela Reddy: book review

  Mr and Mrs Jinnah: The Marriage that Shook India  by Sheela Reddy (2022) is an account of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, and his wife Ruttie Jinnah, set in Delhi, Bombay (Mumbai) and Karachi from 1918.   Mohammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) knew Rattanbai “Ruttie” Petit (1900-1929) from birth. When she was sixteen, 24 years his junior, she became his second wife in 1918, despite their age, background and religious differences: “The marriage seemed an impossibility. Viewed from any angle, the hurdles, whether personal, social or legal, were insurmountable.”   While much has been written about Jinnah, little has been written about his wife, who died on her 29 th  birthday, except by Jinnah’s sister Fatima in her autobiography,  My Brother  – and she did not like Ruttie. Sheela Reddy’s book is well-researched from archived material in the Nehru Museum and Memorial Library. Much of the information is derived from letters exchanged between Ruttie and Sarojini Naidu, the Indian p

‘Bearcat’ Binturong – just climbing around

Binturong - Paris Zoo, February 2024

Eiffel Tower on a misty evening

Sunday Walk: after the rain

Paris, Rue de Rennes & Boulevard du Montparnasse