THE BRASS NOTEBOOK

The making of a political activist.

Indian economist Jain (b. 1933) recounts her development from the “tomboy” daughter of an orthodox Brahmin family into a noted feminist. The young Devaki Sreenivasan was a child of privilege: Her father was a high-ranking civil servant whose official residences were spacious enough that his daughter could keep horses and ride. Although he encouraged her abilities, the family expected her to marry young and within their own caste. Yet she was determined to get an education first. Hoping to go to Oxford, she first attended Ruskin College, established for the working class. “Ruskin College’s deep association with labour and anti-colonialism left an invisible kind of awareness in me,” she writes, “first, about workers and trade unionism, and second, about imperialism and global politics.” Her awareness widened, as well, from gatherings at a friend’s house where she met scholars, intellectuals, journalists, and writers “discussing books and the current political scenario.” She eventually attended Oxford, where her mentor in philosophy was Iris Murdoch. In 1957, she met Lakshmi Jain, a prominent activist whose family was of a lower caste—merchants and tradesmen—and who, at the time, was engaged. When her family violently opposed her marrying beneath her status, the couple wed in secret in 1966. Marriage and motherhood, however, left the author anxious, depressed, and resentful. She felt cut off from the work she yearned to do. By the late 1970s, though, with her two children in school, she was able to reimmerse herself in public life, “writing, talking and publishing about poverty and its special impact on women.” Her work has taken her to 94 countries, and she has met with many African leaders, including Nelson Mandela, Julius Nyere, and Desmond Tutu. Jain has also won the admiration of influential figures such as Amartya Sen and Gloria Steinem, who each contribute an introductory piece to Jain’s candid memoir.

An engaging chronicle of defiance and determination.