About the Book

HISTORIC, ENTERTAINING AND INTRIGUING EPISODES FROM THE LIVES OF DIPLOMATIC SPOUSES, THIS IS A BOOK FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE AS WELL AS ANYONE WHO LIKES GOOD STORIES.
Beyond the glamour of the Indian Foreign Service and the glitz of foreign postings lies an unseen world, that of the spouses of diplomats. These women and a few men traverse continents and cultures every few years, raising families in unfamiliar lands, and always upholding the unwritten but unbreakable code—no diplomatic gaffes!
In this anthology curated by Jayshree Misra Tripathi, the spouses and, in a few cases, other family members, have their say. They recount historic, entertaining and always intriguing episodes from their lives. The stories are as much an exploration of the diverse cultures around the world—from Sikkim to Ethiopia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tajikistan, Baghdad, China, Switzerland—as they are behind-the-scenes accounts of family life and how world-altering moments are often experienced, even created.
The Other Side of Diplomacy is a book not only for those aspiring to a career in the diplomatic service, but for anyone interested in world cultures and slice-of-life family stories (and from within a High Commission or Embassy at that).

About the Editor

Jayshree Misra Tripathi is a poet and retired diplomatic spouse. She draws on wells of experience, including six and a half decades spent in different pockets of the world, from Cuttack, Odisha to England to Sri Lanka to Madagascar and beyond. The human experience in all its difficulty and moments of grace, and the voices of women often silenced or overlooked take centre stage in her work. Her poems and short stories have been reviewed in the Sahitya Akademi journal Indian Literature and featured in national and international anthologies.