Jeremy Seabrook received wide appreciation and acclaim internationally for his hundreds of articles and reports, as well as nearly 40 books written largely from a perspective of social justice. His reporting from many countries on the victims of multifaceted injustice has been read and re-read for its deeply sympathetic yet realistic portrayal of people placed — or pushed — into very difficult circumstances. India was one of the countries from which he reported extensively.
News of his death last year on November 30 reached several friends in India rather late, and some continued to contact me much later to make enquiries. As his first death anniversary approached, I found myself filled with several touching memories of our interactions and meetings over the decades.
I remembered the first time we met. I was busy writing at home when a stranger appeared at the door and smilingly introduced himself as Jeremy Seabrook. Unfortunately, I had not heard about his work until then, but he introduced it in a way that immediately drew me in. He said something like, “I am doing in my country what you are doing here.”
This set the stage for a deeply engaging discussion over the next two hours. Meanwhile, my wife Madhu returned home, and this led to another round of even more friendly conversation. By the time he left that evening, we were close friends. During his next visit, he made friends with our young daughter as well, and later with members of our extended family — my brother and his family who live nearby. He was delighted to learn that my eldest brother lived in London, not far from where he resided. Soon he had visited them too, forming a friendship that lasted until Jeremy’s last days.
For the greater part, my circle of friends consists of activists from the social movements I have covered as a writer, with whom I have formed lasting bonds. Jeremy was keen to meet as many of them as possible, and the stories of some found their way into his books. A few, like Pandurang Hegde of the Appiko movement, also became his lifelong friends. If I remember correctly, they met in London as well. Jeremy’s friend Derek Hooper also visited us once in Delhi.
As Jeremy travelled to many areas to write about these activists and their movements, I was initially a little worried about whether things would work out smoothly. My worries were unfounded. Jeremy was welcomed everywhere and made many friends. During my visits to these villages, people would ask not only about my family’s well-being but also about Jeremy. Several humorous anecdotes arose from the misunderstandings created by the kind of Hindi Jeremy tried to learn (though he never got too far, it seems).
With age and declining health, Jeremy reduced his travels, but he made it a point to visit our home at least once whenever he came to India. Sometimes he would say, “I have come to Delhi only to meet you.” He loved Madhu’s cooking and would tell her, “I am willing to come to Delhi just to eat the food you give me.”
On a more serious note, we discussed each other’s work often. Once he raised the question of how we should describe ourselves. Then he suggested, “We are social critics.”
He greatly appreciated that I could earn a livelihood as an independent writer on justice, peace and environmental issues. I, in turn, was keen to know about his own prospects, and he told me that he generally depended on the support of friends to survive as an independent writer in London. We faced some common problems and challenges in finding outlets for our justice-based writings, and we tried to help each other discover new avenues for publication.
More than all this, however, it is the warmth of his friendship that is most cherished — remembered not only by my family members but also by the many friends he made across social movements in India. It is heartening to recall that cultural or geographic distances cannot stand in the way of deep and lasting friendships, particularly when someone as good-hearted and generous as Jeremy Seabrook is involved.
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The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, A Day in 2071, Planet in Peril, and Earth Without Borders
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