routine.
In 1938, the poem Noor wrote for her mother’s birthday reflected her own sunny mood at the time. The poems also show her own childlike innocence, even though she was twenty-four by this stage.
A little fairy told me why the flowers wake in May
She said: ‘It’s for the birthday of a little Ora Ray
The sun, they say, is jealous of her lovely golden hair
The flowers look their sweetest just to try and be as fair.’
By the middle of 1939, Noor was at last beginning to realise that her relationship with Goldberg was going nowhere. A wealthy Dutch Sufi aristocrat, Peter Yohannes Eekhout Jonheer, had been showing an interest in Noor for some time. But Noor had rejected his advances because of her relationship with Goldberg. Peter Yohannes then entered the diplomatic service and left for India where he was based in Calcutta. Persuaded by Vilayat, Noor now decided to give the relationship with Peter Yohannes a chance. But they had no money to pay the fare to India.
Noor and Vilayat paid a visit to Mahmood’s grandmother, who was related to Peter Yohannes, and told her they would like to visit Calcutta. Madam van Goens was delighted at the prospect of them going to India and meeting her nephew, but did not realise that the brother and sister had actually come to suggest that she finance the trip as well. Vilayat and Noor were too shy to ask for money outright, so the matter was dropped, along with the chance of Noor accepting the proposal of Peter Yohannes, which may have changed the course of her life. 35
Noor’s career as a children’s writer was flourishing by now. Her beautifully illustrated story ‘Ce qu’on entend quelquefois dans les bois …’ (What One Hears Sometimes in the Woods) received pride of place on the children’s page of Le Figaro on 13 August 1939. Noor’s stories were also broadcast on the Children’s Hour of Radio Paris, and received good reviews.
She wrote articles based on Indian and Greek legends, and articles about women singers like the Indian poet and singer Mira Bai and Emma Nevada and her daughter Mignon Nevada. Both the articles on Mira Bai and Emma Nevada were inspirational stories about devotion, love and sacrifice, themes close to Noor’s heart. She began adapting French and Nordic folklore and wrote stories about Emperor Akbar and Charlemagne, adding history, myth and legend to her repertoire.
Just as Noor was establishing herself as a writer, the threat of war was hanging over Europe. On 15 March 1939 Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. By May, Germany and Italy had announced their formal alliance and German designs over Western Europe were becoming uncomfortably clear. Noor’s book Twenty Jataka Tales , with illustrations by Henriette Willebeek le Mair, was published in England by George G. Harrap in 1939. Noor’s reaction to the publication of her first book was unexpectedly understated. 36 She was probably thinking about her father at the time. Ever since his death, no parties or joyful celebrations had been held at the family home.
At the same time, Noor was enthused by her first publishing success. She came up with the idea of publishing a children’s newspaper, and worked on it with the famous journalist Alexis Danan of Paris Soir . She wanted to call it Bel Age (The Beautiful Age), and had collected some material for it including illustrations by her neighbour Madame Pinchon. Danan was fascinated by the dazzling engravings of trees and fairies and the accompanying text, which he described as a ‘genius of narration’. Noor’s story was an oriental legend for children with fairies and creatures of the forest. 37
But events in Europe were soon to overtake the budding writer. On 1 September 1939 Germany invaded Poland and on 3 September, Great Britain, France, New Zealand and Australia declared war on Germany (France did so rather reluctantly, being more or less dragged into it by Britain). The reaction at Fazal Manzil was one of complete panic. Noor was
In 1938, the poem Noor wrote for her mother’s birthday reflected her own sunny mood at the time. The poems also show her own childlike innocence, even though she was twenty-four by this stage.
A little fairy told me why the flowers wake in May
She said: ‘It’s for the birthday of a little Ora Ray
The sun, they say, is jealous of her lovely golden hair
The flowers look their sweetest just to try and be as fair.’
By the middle of 1939, Noor was at last beginning to realise that her relationship with Goldberg was going nowhere. A wealthy Dutch Sufi aristocrat, Peter Yohannes Eekhout Jonheer, had been showing an interest in Noor for some time. But Noor had rejected his advances because of her relationship with Goldberg. Peter Yohannes then entered the diplomatic service and left for India where he was based in Calcutta. Persuaded by Vilayat, Noor now decided to give the relationship with Peter Yohannes a chance. But they had no money to pay the fare to India.
Noor and Vilayat paid a visit to Mahmood’s grandmother, who was related to Peter Yohannes, and told her they would like to visit Calcutta. Madam van Goens was delighted at the prospect of them going to India and meeting her nephew, but did not realise that the brother and sister had actually come to suggest that she finance the trip as well. Vilayat and Noor were too shy to ask for money outright, so the matter was dropped, along with the chance of Noor accepting the proposal of Peter Yohannes, which may have changed the course of her life. 35
Noor’s career as a children’s writer was flourishing by now. Her beautifully illustrated story ‘Ce qu’on entend quelquefois dans les bois …’ (What One Hears Sometimes in the Woods) received pride of place on the children’s page of Le Figaro on 13 August 1939. Noor’s stories were also broadcast on the Children’s Hour of Radio Paris, and received good reviews.
She wrote articles based on Indian and Greek legends, and articles about women singers like the Indian poet and singer Mira Bai and Emma Nevada and her daughter Mignon Nevada. Both the articles on Mira Bai and Emma Nevada were inspirational stories about devotion, love and sacrifice, themes close to Noor’s heart. She began adapting French and Nordic folklore and wrote stories about Emperor Akbar and Charlemagne, adding history, myth and legend to her repertoire.
Just as Noor was establishing herself as a writer, the threat of war was hanging over Europe. On 15 March 1939 Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. By May, Germany and Italy had announced their formal alliance and German designs over Western Europe were becoming uncomfortably clear. Noor’s book Twenty Jataka Tales , with illustrations by Henriette Willebeek le Mair, was published in England by George G. Harrap in 1939. Noor’s reaction to the publication of her first book was unexpectedly understated. 36 She was probably thinking about her father at the time. Ever since his death, no parties or joyful celebrations had been held at the family home.
At the same time, Noor was enthused by her first publishing success. She came up with the idea of publishing a children’s newspaper, and worked on it with the famous journalist Alexis Danan of Paris Soir . She wanted to call it Bel Age (The Beautiful Age), and had collected some material for it including illustrations by her neighbour Madame Pinchon. Danan was fascinated by the dazzling engravings of trees and fairies and the accompanying text, which he described as a ‘genius of narration’. Noor’s story was an oriental legend for children with fairies and creatures of the forest. 37
But events in Europe were soon to overtake the budding writer. On 1 September 1939 Germany invaded Poland and on 3 September, Great Britain, France, New Zealand and Australia declared war on Germany (France did so rather reluctantly, being more or less dragged into it by Britain). The reaction at Fazal Manzil was one of complete panic. Noor was
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