FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The Other Side Of Diplomacy, edited by Jayshree Misra Tripathi throws light on the unseen journeys of diplomatic spouses — their memories and the lives they rebuild as they move from place to place

- PANKIL JHAJHRIA

EMA Devare and her family were “well settled” in Washington DC when her husband, an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, got orders to relocate —to Sikkim. Back in the 1970s, Sikkim was like “a dot hidden somewhere in the Himalayas”, Devare notes in the book, The Other Side of Diplomacy (Westland Books), edited by Jayshree Tripathi. On reaching Gangtok, Sikkim’s capital city, they settled into their new home, a colonial-style cottage on a hillock, “with a front glass veranda offering a magnificent view of the Kanchenjunga range of the Himalayas”; a life amid the “twinkling glow worms” ; the carnations in their garden — hardly the “godforsaken place” she had expected. Besides they were also witness to the turn of history; the '70s was the decade when a referendum was held abolishing monarchy in Sikkim.

The Other Side... is a 16-story anthology, including one by Tripathi, that narrates the reflections and viewpoints of diplomatic spouses of former Heads of Missions as they manage their many roles.