beef and overcooked cabbage with watery potatoes served at the fifth-floor canteen of RADA were unappetizing. She wrote to her mother, begging her for recipes of the home cooked meals of her childhood. Her mother responded with recipes written in Hindi on onionskin paper in letters sent via airmail. The very first letter was dated 19 March 1956 and included recipes for meat spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and bay, a cauliflower dish, and egg curry with hard-boiled eggs. The first recipe that she tried was jeera aloo (potatoes with cumin). She bought pumpernickel from a neighborhood Jewish bakery as a substitute for chapatis. In late 1955, Saeed Jaffrey won a Fulbright scholarship to study drama in America the following year. In spring 1956, he approached Jaffrey's parents in Delhi for her hand in marriage but they refused because they felt that his financial prospects as an actor did not appear sound. Jaffrey got her father's permission to marry Saeed eventually. In summer 1956, Saeed flew to London on his way to America and proposed to Jaffrey. She refused but gave him a tour of RADA where she pointed out English actors, such as Peter O'Toole, whom she thought would soon have a high profile in the profession. Soon afterwards, Saeed boarded the to sail across the Atlantic Ocean from Southampton to New York City. In 1957 Jaffrey graduated from RADA with honours. Not knowing whether to stay on in London, join a repertory company or go back to India, she wrote to Saeed describing her dilemma. Saeed had just graduated from Catholic University of America's Department of Speech and Drama and had been selected to act in summer stock plays at St. Michael's Playhouse in Winooski, Vermont. Seeing Saeed troubled by Jaffrey's letter, Reverend Gilbert V. Hartke, the department head at Catholic University, arranged for Jaffrey to teach pantomime at St. Michael's Playhouse at Winooski that summer. Father Hartke also arranged for her to go to Catholic University on a partial scholarship and work at the Drama School library in order to meet her living expenses. After gaining her American work visa, Madhur sailed across the Atlantic on the to join Saeed at Winooski. New York City (1958–1969) In September 1957 Jaffrey stayed in Washington, D.C., with Saeed, who had returned there to rehearse for the 1957–58 season with the National Players, a professional touring company that performed classical plays