Maryam Jinnah - Romance and Legacy

Romance and Legacy

Although not much is known about Jinnah’s personal life, when he was a law student in London, he regularly participated in theatre and seriously considered acting as a profession. Ruttie was considered to be the most beautiful girl of Bombay. Jinnah's marriage with the most beautiful girl of Bombay – Ruttie: The Flower of Bombay – is considered like a fairy tale. She was quite lost in his love but was facing the agony of Jinnah's busy life but still till end she cared about him a lot, Ruttie's love for Jinnah can also be elaborated by reading some extracts of her last letter to him "...When one has been as near to the reality of Life (which after all is Death) as I have been dearest, one only remembers the beautiful and tender moments and all the rest becomes a half veiled mist of unrealities. Try and remember me beloved as the flower you plucked and not the flower you tread upon." ... ".. Darling I love you – I love you – and had I loved you just a little less I might have remained with you – only after one has created a very beautiful blossom one does not drag it through the mire. The higher you set your ideal the lower it falls. I have loved you my darling as it is given to few men to be loved. I only beseech you that the tragedy which commenced in love should also end with it...".

Jinnah is believed to be a very private person and he hardly showed emotions but he is known to have cried twice in public. One of the occasions was the funeral of his beloved wife Ruttie in 1929 and the other one in August 1947, when he visited her grave one last time before leaving for Pakistan. Jinnah left India in August 1947, never to return again, but he left behind a piece of his heart in a little grave in a cemetery in Bombay.

Prof. Akbar Ahmed’s movie Jinnah (film) tried, to some extent, throw some light on Jinnah’s personal life but 15–20 minutes is nowhere near enough. Despite Jinnah's unfaltering dedication and love for Ruttie, the marriage was not a bed of roses. Perhaps his professional responsibilities and political commitments did not afford him enough time to spend with his beloved wife and this was much for her to bear. Her youthful heart bled with loneliness until she died of a consuming illness, still young and charming.