Mama strikes Balance

It's not every day that you see author Vikram Seth being addressed tauji. And yet as the Seth family enjoys a sunny morning at their Noida h...

It’s not every day that you see author Vikram Seth being addressed tauji. And yet as the Seth family enjoys a sunny morning at their Noida home, you get a glimpse of their togetherness. The family ties will become even more public on December 7 when On Balance, the autobiography of Leila Seth — the first woman Chief Justice of a High Court in India and Vikram’s mother — is launched in the Capital. The launch has been timed with the 80th birthday of Premnath Seth, Leila’s husband.

‘‘I am here for papa’s birthday and for mama’s book. Also, we are all meeting after two years,’’ says London-based Vikram. ‘We’ include his filmmaker sister Aradhana, her Austrian diplomat husband Peter, brother Shantum and sister-in-law Gitanjali—peace activists—and their daughter Nandini. Yes, the two-and-a-half-year-old is the one for whom the book was written. ‘‘The ultimate reason was Nandini. I won’t be there when she grows up,’’ says 73-year-old Leila. On Balance (Penguin, Rs 495) delves into Leila’s childhood in Darjeeling, her father’s early death, her marriage at the age of 20, and how she took up a career in law in London.

Leila went on to become the first woman to top the Bar examinations in London, the first woman judge of the Delhi High Court and then the first woman High Court Chief Justice. ‘‘A lot of people, and that includes men, ask me what it was like to balance home and career. I tell them to be supportive husbands,’’ smiles Leila. And so while it talks about some of her landmark judgements, there are chapters devoted to her family as well.

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The book includes several details. Like, that they had a fourth child, a daughter named Ira, who died in her teens. Or that she found it hard to come to terms with Vikram’s homosexuality. ‘‘To write about in retrospect is easier,’’ says Leila. She consulted her brother and Vikram before she decided to reveal these in the book.

‘‘Mama knows none of us can sue her because she has all the legal guns on her side,’’ laughs Vikram. He is used to being written about, points out sister Aradhana. ‘‘It’s a new thing for me. Not for you, people have talked to you about your life,’’ she says to her brother. Vikram has begun to write his next book Two Lives, which tells the story of his great uncle, Shanti Bihari Seth, and his German Jewish wife, Henny. The author admits the advance of £ 1.3 million was more than what he expected.