music, Noor’s interest in creative writing continued. She always loved children and would invite the children of the neighbourhood to Fazal Manzil and tell them fantastic stories from the Indian epics the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Jataka. To the children she was an exotic creature – gentle and lovely – with magical stories to tell of adventures in faraway lands.
She continued to write poetry and never forgot to write her family a poem on their birthdays. For Vilayat, when he turned twenty-one, she wrote:
May every wish of yours come true
And every day be clear and blue
O! My brother dear, a man this day,
May joy come all along your way
On Amina Begum’s birthday, Noor would always try to bring a smile to her mother’s face. Her poem ‘The Birthday Man’ was typical of Noor’s childlike exuberance:
I saw the little birthday man,
Skipping ’long the way,
I stopped awhile and listened,
To hear what he would say.
He put his little finger
Upon his little head.
He blew the dandelions, and
Danced around and said:
‘Why, this is my best birthday,
For on this very day,
The storks brought down a girly
Whose name is Ora Ray.
‘I must put on my sweetest
And wear my golden crown.
I’ll take my happy knapsack,
And wear my grand new gown.
‘She has had cloudy hours
And many cloudy years,
And many hard adventures,
And many many tears.
‘Life has been very naughty
But I shall fight the wrong,
And make her whole life happy,
Just with my little song.’
The bond between mother and daughter grew over the years. Amina Begum herself penned some poems for Noor in which she said: ‘Thro’ all the stress and storms of life, She moves in quiet dignity … She has a gift that few possess, the gift of love’s sublimity.’
Once when Noor was in her early twenties, two of her father’s disciples, Baron and Baroness van Tuyll, invited her to spend some time with them at the Hague. Noor was reluctant to leave her mother alone but was eventually persuaded. The holiday (her first) was a fresh change for her. She toured the city’s art museums, read in the extensive library and even learnt to ride. The van Tuylls had their own stables and they found that Noor had no physical fear. She was not afraid of falling off her horse and simply carried on even if she did.
While she was at the Hague, she was told to give some piano lessons to her younger cousin Mahmood, son of her uncle Maheboob Khan. Mahmood (then 9 years old) remembered Noor as a ‘very pretty, delicate young lady’. 29 Noor started teaching him the piano with a difficult Mozart piece. Since Mahmood was quite overwhelmed by the piece, she helped him along telling him stories about rabbits and hares and fairies and making sketches for him. He began to love her visits, which to him meant entering an imaginary world. He remembered with amusement that the next summer Claire, or Mamuli as they called her, came visiting and was supposed to give him lessons. But Claire was silent and withdrawn and suddenly there were no dancing rabbits for him. To the young Mahmood, Noor was a fairy-tale character, delicate and charming, with a determination and strength of character that he could sense even then.
Back home from the Hague, Noor had to take charge of Fazal Manzil again, a task that was never easy. Madame Egeling gave Noor 3,000 francs a month on which she had to run the household. It was not a large sum, as Madame Egeling, though very wealthy, was not one to indulge in luxuries. Every job – from making the beds to calling the plumber – was Noor’s responsibility. Claire began to help her with the washing and darning, following her about devotedly. Noor was apparently quite dreadful at sewing and Claire happily took on these tasks.
Adding to the pressures of domestic life at Fazal Manzil was Noor’s troubled relationship with her fiancé and she was often quite weepy at this stage. 30 At one time Vilayat felt she was heading for a
She continued to write poetry and never forgot to write her family a poem on their birthdays. For Vilayat, when he turned twenty-one, she wrote:
May every wish of yours come true
And every day be clear and blue
O! My brother dear, a man this day,
May joy come all along your way
On Amina Begum’s birthday, Noor would always try to bring a smile to her mother’s face. Her poem ‘The Birthday Man’ was typical of Noor’s childlike exuberance:
I saw the little birthday man,
Skipping ’long the way,
I stopped awhile and listened,
To hear what he would say.
He put his little finger
Upon his little head.
He blew the dandelions, and
Danced around and said:
‘Why, this is my best birthday,
For on this very day,
The storks brought down a girly
Whose name is Ora Ray.
‘I must put on my sweetest
And wear my golden crown.
I’ll take my happy knapsack,
And wear my grand new gown.
‘She has had cloudy hours
And many cloudy years,
And many hard adventures,
And many many tears.
‘Life has been very naughty
But I shall fight the wrong,
And make her whole life happy,
Just with my little song.’
The bond between mother and daughter grew over the years. Amina Begum herself penned some poems for Noor in which she said: ‘Thro’ all the stress and storms of life, She moves in quiet dignity … She has a gift that few possess, the gift of love’s sublimity.’
Once when Noor was in her early twenties, two of her father’s disciples, Baron and Baroness van Tuyll, invited her to spend some time with them at the Hague. Noor was reluctant to leave her mother alone but was eventually persuaded. The holiday (her first) was a fresh change for her. She toured the city’s art museums, read in the extensive library and even learnt to ride. The van Tuylls had their own stables and they found that Noor had no physical fear. She was not afraid of falling off her horse and simply carried on even if she did.
While she was at the Hague, she was told to give some piano lessons to her younger cousin Mahmood, son of her uncle Maheboob Khan. Mahmood (then 9 years old) remembered Noor as a ‘very pretty, delicate young lady’. 29 Noor started teaching him the piano with a difficult Mozart piece. Since Mahmood was quite overwhelmed by the piece, she helped him along telling him stories about rabbits and hares and fairies and making sketches for him. He began to love her visits, which to him meant entering an imaginary world. He remembered with amusement that the next summer Claire, or Mamuli as they called her, came visiting and was supposed to give him lessons. But Claire was silent and withdrawn and suddenly there were no dancing rabbits for him. To the young Mahmood, Noor was a fairy-tale character, delicate and charming, with a determination and strength of character that he could sense even then.
Back home from the Hague, Noor had to take charge of Fazal Manzil again, a task that was never easy. Madame Egeling gave Noor 3,000 francs a month on which she had to run the household. It was not a large sum, as Madame Egeling, though very wealthy, was not one to indulge in luxuries. Every job – from making the beds to calling the plumber – was Noor’s responsibility. Claire began to help her with the washing and darning, following her about devotedly. Noor was apparently quite dreadful at sewing and Claire happily took on these tasks.
Adding to the pressures of domestic life at Fazal Manzil was Noor’s troubled relationship with her fiancé and she was often quite weepy at this stage. 30 At one time Vilayat felt she was heading for a
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