Life Among the Scorpions: Memoirs of a Woman in Indian Politics

by Jaya Jaitly

An Indian politician looks back at her journey and recounts how the going got tougher with her every success, perhaps because she was a woman.
Life among the Scorpions recounts the deeply fascinating and often tumultuous events that mark thirty years of Jaya Jaitly’s political journey.
From arranging relief for victims of the 1984 Sikh riots, to joining politics under firebrand leader George Fernandes, to becoming the president of Samata Party—a key ally in the erstwhile NDA Government, Jaitly’s rise in Indian mainstream politics invited both awe and envy. But the going has been far from smooth. Trouble began with George Fernandes sacking Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat in 1998. Jaitly became the target. She was soon hounded by Tehelka’s stings—first concerning her son-in-law-to-be Ajay Jadeja and then herself in an alleged bribery case. Eventually, Fernandes had to resign as India’s Defence Minister, despite being the best, and Jaitly quit as the Samata Party President. Meanwhile, she spiritedly fought booth capturing in Bihar as well as fellow party men’s egos, intervened and ensured the installation of the Samata government in Manipur. All this, even as she continued her parallel fight for the livelihood of craftsmen on the one hand, and conceptualized and ensured establishment of the first Dilli Haat (crafts market place) in 1994 on the other.
With all the backstories of major events in Indian politics between 1970–2000, including her experience of dealing with the Commission of Inquiry and courts regarding the Tehelka stings, the story of Jaya Jaitly makes for a riveting read. A powerful narrative on why being a woman in politics was for her akin to being surrounded by scorpions; this hard hitting memoir offers a perspective on the functioning of Indian politics from a woman’s point of view.

Genres: Politics

352 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2017

Reviews

[Geeta Ramani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up the book, Life among the Scorpions by Jaya Jaitley with the hope of reading and knowing more about the firebrand Socialist leader George Fernandes.

I knew that George Fernandes had been Jaya Jaitley's mentor and they had worked together for several years heading the Samata party which was part of the coalition government of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

As the official spokesperson of her party I had seen Jaya Jaitley often on TV and admired her for her clarity of thought and simple and straightforward speak.

I chanced to come upon her memoir and I am so happy that I could read it for I got much more than I had bargained for.

Her book is out of the ordinary, in the sense that she doesn't delve into the very personal details of about how she met and fell in love with her husband or how and when they started drifting apart. Sometimes, these are too personal to discuss and they come at the cost of hurting someone or the other. Outwardly, she appears to have a charmed life, yet she chooses to portray it as common place, one that is easily identifiable by an educated working woman in India.

For me, she really stands out as an extraordinary individual however a little too straightforward and naive for political life. I wish she could have spent more time with her father and picked up the rudiments of diplomacy from him.

She provides a political and social backdrop of the times she lived through. However, she was not destined to play a more important role in public life and sadly today she's remembered for that one infamous incident which ended her political life altogether.

I was also happy to know and learn more about the charismatic socialist leader, George Fernandes and also happy to note that she could spend 30 fruitful years with him. sadly the final days were not happy for both George Fernandes retreated into his shell and Jaya was denied any contact with him by his family.

Jaya writes effortlessly but comes across as a very strong and principled lady and my admiration for her has grown tremendously. Thank you for writing about yourself the way you did and letting us know how difficult it was to survive in the political waters. Being an educated and sophisticated lady, it must have taken a lot of courage and to do so I am happy she found a mentor in George Fernandes.

[Atoorva · Rating 4 out of 5]

If there is anything worse than a badly written autobiography , it is an autobiography that is selective with facts and tries to hide more than what it tells. I have always admired the author for her work in promotion of Indian Crafts and how she comes across as a very polite and graceful person unlike most politicians . Don't get me wrong, the book is written very well....it started off brilliantly. The memories of her Kerala childhood were a delight to read and though I cannot help noticing her very elite sense of "poverty" whenever she mentions money (or lack of it) , I enjoyed her childhood memories of Japan, Burma and Europe. The book started losing focus when the timeline was jumped back and forth with selective incidents and by the time she started describing her time as politician she was sounding like a disgruntled person evading all facts, clarifying nothing and narrating selected opinions. She had complaints against everyone while her entire functioning seemed to be through networking and using her connections of being a Delhi elite , IAS wife and later companion of George Fernandes . A very sad fact that comes out of her narration is how she was badly used by George Fernandes . The book is a sad reflection of Indian Politics where using networking is considered normal and the acquired wealth of politicians is expected to go without question.

[Soul longings · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written autobiography which chronicles her political journey and gives a blow by blow account of the challenges she faced and how she had suffered in a false corruption case over the years , Was good that she presented her side through this book .

[Navdeep Pundhir · Rating 1 out of 5]

A perfectly horrible book. It reads more like a complaint list of an angry teenager than being a memoir of a senior public figure.
I repent spending money to have bought this one.

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the parts when she was a kid in Kerala and the part about George Fernandes

[Anuradha Goyal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detailed Review - https://www.anuradhagoyal.com/life-am...