"Indira Gandhi had many interests and many friends, but it is a lonely kind of life" -- Sonia Gandhi is quoted in 'The Guardian' :::: Sonia's book "Belonging: A Journey of Love" is due for release on Nov 10

“I saw her (Indira Gandhi) work day and night, constantly under pressure, constantly attacked,” says Sonia Gandhi. 

“It did affect her (Indira), like it would anyone. And of course, in that position, there is a loneliness. She had many interests and many friends, but it is a lonely kind of life" Sonia is quoted in 'The Guardian'. 

The piece penned by 'The Guardian' South Asia correspondent Hannah Ellis-Petersen, says: 

"To outsiders, Indira (Gandhi) was often seen as severe, an “iron lady”, and Gandhi admits that, to begin with, she was deeply intimidated by her formidable mother-in-law. Yet while Indira was imposing in public, she could be vulnerable in private, once confiding to Gandhi how terrified she was when she first bcame prime minister.

“In the newspapers she was portrayed as tough or harsh, but at home she was just like any other mother,” Gandhi says – although Indira’s notoriously explosive temper, frequently directed at political colleagues, would erupt through the house on occasion. Gandhi’s memoir recounts one incident where Indira lost her temper during a family dinner and threw her thali plate across the table.   

Sonia Gandhi’s entrance into Indian politics began in Cambridge in the 1960s when, at 18, while she was studying at a language school, she fell in love with a bright-eyed boy at a Greek restaurant. 

"At the time, she had no idea that Rajiv was heir to India’s most consequential political dynasty. “It was a coup de foudre,” she says. “After that, nothing else really mattered. He was, first of all, a handsome man. But I think his eyes told of the way he was – of his inner self. He was loving, he was comforting, he was caring. Everything I could have possibly dreamed of" - says the article. 

The Guardian link    

Of course, as former Congress president, who brought her party to power in 2004 and ruled India for next decade; Sonia does not hold back on criticism of Narendra Modi – 

According to 'The Guardian' article, she accuses Modi of being an “authoritarian force bent upon changing the very nature of our country”.

Sonia also says the BJP has “systematically dismantled our democratic institutions”.  

Sonia also suggests that after years of “horrible and crazy things written about me”, it will be comforting for people (of India and others) to know “the truth”.  

The article by Hannah Ellis-Petersen, says: 

"The Hindu nationalist vision of India that Modi has enacted over his 12 years in power is directly opposed to the pluralistic, secular India that was championed by successive Congress leaders and which remains enshrined in India’s constitution. It has led to well-documented oppression of the country’s minority groups, in particular its 200 million Muslims."

On these; Sonia is quoted as stating: 

“More than disappointing, it’s very painful, having known a different India". 

“In parliament, we are not allowed to debate. In the past, there were discussions, there were meetings between the opposition and the government, there was consultation. Now the opposition counts for nothing.”

Since Modi came to power, she has had barely any interaction with him; he tends to avoid eye contact when they’re in a room together – a stark contrast to the past, when opposition leaders would often meet the government and “treat each other with cordiality”.

A “Congress-free India” is one of the openly declared goals of Modi’s BJP, resulting in highly personal attacks on Gandhi and her children, who have found themselves with numerous police cases filed against them.

Hannah Ellis-Petersen 

ends