New Delhi: Indira Gandhi’s study was packed with books. Among them were photographs of Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, her parents Jawaharlal and Kamala Nehru, a pencil sketch of her husband Feroze Gandhi, and photographs of her sons Rajiv and Sanjay, as well as her grandchildren Rahul and Priyanka. But it was a black and white portrait of her daughter-in-law, Sonia, that completed the collection.
The walls of Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum on Akbar Road chronicle her life in detail, from her childhood to her assassination; Sonia’s years with her find relatively little space in this account. Yet, even that little space in the museum captures glimpses of the private moments that Sonia Gandhi shared with her mother-in-law– around the dining table, in the lush green lawns and during diplomatic visits abroad.
As Sonia Gandhi’s memoir Belonging releases, her life has been chronicled quite a few times before. There is, by now, a well-etched public imagination of her life. This imagination is shaped by her own husband, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s photographs of her, her interviews, biographer Rasheed Kidwai and also the Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum.
Sonia spent a little over 16 years with Indira. She was the first to find her mother-in-law lying in a pool of blood, riddled with bullets, at 1 Safdarjung Road, the prime minister’s residence. The house, now the Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum, is overseen by Sonia as chairperson of its trust.
For four decades, Sonia’s relationship with India’s first and only female prime minister existed largely through the memories preserved within the museum. Now, she has put her own version of that story on paper in her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love.
Her book holds her memories of Gandhi’s assassination and her fears, as her husband, Rajiv, became the Prime Minister of India in 1984.
A mother-daughter bond
At the museum, visitors retrace the life and legacy of the former prime minister. Its white walls are lined with black-and-white photographs–Indira Gandhi addressing public gatherings, standing out in a crowd, glimpses of her childhood, her personal collection of rocks, awards and degrees. Among these memories is the orange saree she wore on the day of her assassination.
Amid the accounts of pain, love, leadership and achievement are quieter spaces devoted to family.
One such space holds photographs from Rajiv and Sonia’s wedding, including portraits of the newlyweds with Indira.
Today’s couples might not like the style of these photos; they represent something more than family albums. They capture a moment in history–the arrival of an Italian-born woman as the daughter-in-law of the Nehru-Gandhi family, and the beginning of a warm connection.
For Sonia, Indira was like a mother who thought about the “betterment of the nation”. On her arrival to India, Indira “educated’ her about Indian culture.
“Indira had also taught and educated me about Indian culture, values and politics as well,” Sonia said at the photographic exhibition to commemorate the birth anniversary of Indira Gandhi at Swaraj Bhawan in 2016.
Indira’s photo with Sonia gives a warm and intimate side of their life, not revealing much about her political involvement in the former PM’s life.
Between the marriage album, visitors in the museum come across a rare family photo of Indira with Rajiv, Sonia, Sanjay, Maneka, Rahul and Priyanka.
While Indira holds the two grandkids, both Sonia and Rajiv keep their eyes down, as Sanjay and Maneka stand behind them. There is no mention of when the photo was taken.
From one room to another, Indira’s story intensifies. Amid this, there are a few glimpses of Sonia, but always with the family.
A photo where Indira is sitting with her sons and Sonia for a meal.
Tracing Indira’s life also reveals the Gandhi family’s pets. A series of pictures features the family’s golden retrievers following Indira around the prime minister’s residence or posing for photographs. The family’s love for dogs has continued over the years, Rahul gave an indie pup as a gift to his mother on October 4 2023. Rahul and Priyanka are often seen in videos and photos playing with dogs.
As the museum tour draws to a close, visitors encounter newspaper clippings and photographs documenting Indira’s diplomatic visits and last political years. Among them, tucked beneath the section on her 1982 visit to Japan, is a photograph of Sonia sharing tea with Indira and Japan’s then prime minister, Zenko Suzuki, in Tokyo.
The museum, then slowly moves to Rajiv’s section– probably one of the most important parts—where Sonia stood as the iron lady beside the family after his death.
Also Read: Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi: The romance India watched, mourned and mythologised
Sonia from Rajiv’s camera
As the sound of bullets pierced the silence of 1, Safdarjung Road, Sonia rushed outside to find her mother-in-law, Indira, riddled with bullets, lying in a pool of blood. Moments later, Indira lay in Sonia’s lap as an Ambassador car sped toward the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. Sonia, the dutiful daughter-in-law, remained by her side until Rajiv arrived.
One of the first photos displayed showed Sonia standing beside Rajiv, wearing sunglasses, near Indira’s burning pyre.
The photographs in the museum trace Sonia’s journey through the memories she shared with Rajiv, as well as the Gandhi family–moments that appear beautiful, intimate and almost quaint. It is often said that a photograph becomes remarkable when the photographer finds beauty in the ordinary. Perhaps that holds true when looking at Sonia’s photographs captured by Rajiv.
A black and white portrait of Sonia lost in thoughts– clicked by Rajiv. Probably a photo from their days at Cambridge.
The exhibition then moves to a series of photographs capturing the couple in shared moments– laughing, exchanging glances and finding joy in each other’s company.
However, the mood changes as it progresses. It reaches the years of Rajiv as the prime minister, and Sonia accompanying him to political campaigns, especially from April 1991 in Amethi.
Rajiv’s last visit to his constituency.
The museum is a showcase of Sonia’s life as a daughter-in-law and a wife. Her life changed after Rajiv was killed. She was the shadow who had to be in the limelight for the family.
In several of her speeches, Sonia has spoken about her story briefly. But a few chapters were omitted. The memoir, however, offers Sonia’s perspective, filling in the gaps with her own memories and reflections on the relationship she shared with India’s former prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi.
“Since a lot has been written about me and a lot of it is quite incorrect or exaggerated”, said Sonia in a video message on Instagram. Sonia Gandhi thought it was right to finally pen down her “story”.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)