Podium on the pavement

Jaya Jaitly began work with India's craftspeople over thirty-five years ago and joined the democratic socialist movement in 1982. The one-sided attack on the Sikh community in Delhi following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984 saw Jaitly throw herself into relief work and political activity by joining the Janata Party. Jaitly later became Secretary of the Janata Dal and General Secretary of thely formed Samata Party in 1954 d its President in 2001. By simultaneously handling party work, anchoring television series on women's issues, working with craftspeople, conceptualising Dilli Haat-a unique crafts market place in New Delhi-and creating artistic maps to document the crafts and handlooms of India, she achieved a distinct and articulate profile. She moved away from party-bound politics in early 2003.

Throughout these years Jaitly continued writing. She edited and contributed to The Crafts of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh (Mapin Publishing, 1990), wrote The Craft Traditions of India (Lustre Press, 1991) and an important socio economic study of craftspeople, Vishwakarma's Children