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BOOKS
AUTHORSPEAK
DEEPSHIKA KHAITAN
Rightfully Yours
Deepshika Khaitan,
26, twirls her blow-dried curls with the tip of her index finger as she
talks about her first book. The manicured hands, six-tier diamond-ring,
gem-encrusted bracelet and a waft of expensive perfume have you wondering
if she has written a coffee-table book on fashion. Or jewellery. But for
someone who has a flight to catch-she's speeding off to Bangkok for the
weekend-Khaitan has all the time to talk about Your Rights As An Indian
(Arpan Publishers), a "hand-book or ready reckoner" that demystifies
the laws. It begins with a message from Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley
and a foreword by Animal Care and Culture Minister Maneka Gandhi.
 Married
into the Khaitan business family five years ago, time and resources would
not have been a problem for this young author. But Khaitan insists the
book was a result of a lot of thinking-the famous surname had nothing
to do with it. "And like any bestseller," she says, "I
was looking at ways in which to make a law book attractive." While
she had the material ready, it was her publishers who told her to keep
her style simple with enough live examples to pep up the pages. She had
practice. Born and bred in Kolkata, she had always tried her hand at writing
while completing BA (Economics) at Kolkata's St Xavier's College. Marriage
brought her to Delhi. Now she wants to try her hand at contesting environmental
and women's rights issues.
She opted to study law from Delhi University,
a subject she found creative because "there are so many ways in which
to interpret a case, so many people you can help out". Last year,
she donned the black cape to do a spot of practical training in the Delhi
courts. It was enough to make her want to write the book. "I thought
it would help the commoner know his rights. It's a sort of self-improvement
guide, much like gourmet cooking."
An avid tennis player-on CE ranked number three
in the under-18 age group-you can spot her fielding serves in the evenings.
Her next book will not be on tennis though. It will be on women's issues,
she promises, as she twirls those curls framing her face again.
—Methil Renuka
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