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Journalism of Courage
Sometimes the most difficult of beginnings lead to the best results 8212; and On Balance, both as an autobiography as well as a life well lived, struggles at the start and then settles down into a warm and mellow read. Leila Seth, the first chief justice of a high court and the first woman judge of the Delhi high court, has led a life which spirals above the mundane and the ordinary, and in fact creates its own sense of joyousness.
Seth8217;s gentle reconstruction of her past is primarily for her young granddaughter Nandini, a gift of love, so she can understand her family roots. In many ways, this is a success story 8212; of a wife, a mother and a career woman 8212; and it can be enjoyed at many levels. The book is, quite literally, well balanced between Seth8217;s three avatars.
Her marriage to Premo also appears to have taken place as serendipitously as many other events in her life. But it is imbued with simplicity, as her mother judiciously divides the six thousand rupees she has budgeted to spend on the wedding, between the clothes, the gifts and the food. Premo was then at the start in the unusual profession of shoe manufacturing, a career in which his later determination led to well-deserved success. At the time, Seth herself was earning the princely sum of two hundred and fifty rupees working as a stenographer at the Assam Rail Link Project. So it was not till Premo was posted at the Bata Development Office in Old Bond Street, London, that Seth realised her own skills in the legal profession. Trying to find an occupation which would allow her to juggle her various avatars successfully, she enrolled to study law. She was 28 years old when she topped the Bar examinations. It was after their return to India now with two children that she began to practice law.
Seth has the easy style of a practiced raconteur 8212; and while there are some delightful tales of her children, her experiences at the Patna courtroom are also both enlightening and humorous. Much of this has to do with the fact that being one amongst two women lawyers in the Patna high court, Seth was unintentionally an attraction for the gaping crowds.
However, Seth is both bold and endearing in her ability to deal squarely with problems and, often, agony. Therefore when there is a case against her husband after he moves into the public sector, she narrates with despair the shock and embarrassment the family is subject to. The cynicism surfaces again when she, after retirement, is slapped with a huge claim from the Directorate of Estates for the house they had been living in before they shifted to their own home. But this is tempered with her own ability 8216;8216;to make a difference8217;8217; in her profession, and it is indeed inspiring to read about these heroic attempts, often against a steel frame system.
Personally, too, Seth delves into painful issues 8212; such as her husband8217;s psoriasis and her own acceptance of her son Vikram8217;s bisexuality. However, one of the most poignant moments remains the death of her fourth child, Ira, whom she had given away in adoption to her brother Sashi. Diagnosed and operated upon for a heart defect, the young Ira dies after a depressed and unhappily short life.
As Seth looks back at the age of 70, she is honest in her self-appraisal and often hounded by doubts and negativity about her own success. But it is this lucid honesty which makes the narrative so enthralling and transparent, as she places before us her very suitable life and family.
