Women of today talk about issues like smashing glass ceilings and finding the work-life balance. In decades gone by, one woman managed all that, and in a world which was less tuned in to gender sensitivity. She did it quietly, with an elan that would be the hallmark throughout her career. Leila Seth, who died on May 5 at the age of 86 was a trailblazer. She never wore her feminism on her sleeve. In fact, she remained the “ideal'' of Indian womanhood, the sindoor and mangalsutra firmly in place. Seth did not need to shed these symbols to prove that she was different, she did that through the way she lived and worked.
[File] Justice Leila Seth | PTI
Today's generation knows Leila Seth for two main reasons. As the mother of celebrated author Vikram Seth, whose bestselling A Suitable Boy is being made into a BBC teleseries. More contemporarily, she is known for her contributions as a member of the Justice Verma committee which was instituted in 2013 to recommend changes in the laws regarding violence on women, after the Nirbhaya rape and brutalisation shocked the conscience of the country. If today, the laws on rape have been strengthened, and India has got a nuanced approach instead of the black and white one towards gender crimes, it is largely due to the efforts of Seth, who along with Verma and Gopal Swamy sifted through the reams of suggestions that came flooding from across the country. They took in the general sentiment, which was the need to have stricter laws. Yet, they tempered their suggestions keeping in mind all other aspects of human rights and presented a document which was largely the basis for the new, improved laws. Seth, like Verma, was against the death sentence. They kept their personal views in rein as they suggested as long as India had a death sentence, it should be meted out to rapists.
Just a day before Seth breathed her last, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for four of the convicts in the Nirbhaya case. Seth may not have been aware of the news development, but her soul will certainly feel satisfied that justice was served, even though, she remained against the death sentence.
Seth's legacy, however, encompasses much more. She will always be remembered as the first woman judge of Delhi High Court as well as the first chief justice of a high court in India (Himachal Pradesh). That, however, is only the official qualification. For all those who chafe at motherhood and domesticity robbing themselves the chance of a successful career, a re-read of Seth's life is enlightening. Her education began after marriage and motherhood. The Lucknow born housewife studied law while being with her husband in the UK. It is part of the lore around Seth that the picture of hers, with a baby in arm, was published after she topped her class, chafed the classmates no end. To be bested by a woman, and a mother of a toddler to boot.
As a member of the Law Commission of India, with which she was associated till 2000, Seth had a role to play in suggesting improvements in the Hindu Succession Act. If today, daughters have an equal right to ancestral property, they owe a bit of gratitude to to this five feet tall woman.
Seth didn't have a problem in being identified with gender issues. She however preferred to carve out a niche in an area that wouldn't be identified as the go-to speciality for a woman. She chose taxation when she began her practice as a barrister. Her career growth didn't hamper her role as a mother. The fact that she is mother to three children with very distinct beliefs and individualitues—one son is a celebrated author who came out in the open with his homosexuality, another son chose to be a Buddhist teacher, and a daughter who chose to go into cinema—would give an idea of the liberal environment in which Seth raised her family.
There are many reasons to remember Seth. My takeaway is that professional success can co exist with a fulfilling family life. That you can be a crusader even in a sari. That you don't need stilettos to tower over men.
