Devaki Jain

The Brass Notebook Devaki Jain

Description

In this no-holds-barred memoir, Devaki Jain begins with her childhood in

south India, a life of comfort and ease with a father who served as dewan in the

Princely States of Mysore and Gwalior. But there were restrictions too, that

come with growing up in an orthodox Tamil Brahmin family, as well as the rarely

spoken about dangers of predatory male relatives. Ruskin College, Oxford, gave

her her first taste of freedom in 1955, at the age of 22. Oxford brought her a

degree in philosophy and economics-as well as hardship, as she washed dishes

in a cafe to pay her fees. It was here, too, that she had her early encounters with

the sensual life. With rare candour, she writes of her romantic liaisons in Oxford

and Harvard, and falling in love with her 'unsuitable boy'-her husband,

Lakshmi Jain, whom she married against her beloved father's wishes.

Devaki's professional life saw her becoming deeply involved with the cause

of 'poor' women-workers in the informal economy, for whom she strove

to get a better deal. In the international arena, she joined cause with the

concerns of the colonized nations of the south, as they fought to make their

voices heard against the rich and powerful nations of the former colonizers.

Her work brought her into contact with world leaders and thinkers, amongst

them, Vinoba Bhave, Nelson Mandela, Henry Kissinger, and Iris Murdoch.