‘Papa looking down proudly’: Rahul, Priyanka’s emotional note for ‘Mama’ Sonia Gandhi ahead of memoir release | India News
NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday penned emotional notes for their mother Sonia Gandhi, who is set to release her memoir ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’ in November.The messages came on the birth anniversary of their father, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, with both Rahul and Priyanka reflecting the relationship of their parents and the personal losses Sonia Gandhi endured over the years.Rahul, addressing his mother as ‘Mama’, recalled the last time he saw his parents together more than 35 years ago and spoke about Sonia Gandhi’s life after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991.“Mama, I last saw you and Papa together more than 35 years ago. Since the day Papa left, I have watched you face everything life threw at you with never-ending courage and dignity,” Rahul wrote on X.“Only Priyanka and I really know what you have been through, and how difficult your life after Papa truly was,” he added.Rahul said he was proud that Sonia Gandhi, who has largely kept her personal life away from public view, had decided to tell her story.“I am happy, and so proud, that your story ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’ — will finally be read by the millions of people who love you. I know how hard it was for someone as private as you to tell the world your beautiful story,” he wrote.Referring to Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary, Rahul ended the note saying, “Today, on his birthday, I can see Papa smiling and looking down proudly at his beautiful Sonia.”Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also shared a personal message, describing her parents’ relationship as “one of the greatest love stories of our time”.“On my father’s birthday today, I think he would have been especially proud of my mother for having written her story with so much heart and honesty,” she wrote.Priyanka said she felt privileged to have witnessed their relationship and hoped the memoir would allow readers to know Sonia Gandhi beyond her political persona.“For me, it’s one of the greatest love stories of our time. I feel privileged to have witnessed it and I am happy that through her book, everyone will get to know my mother for what she truly is — a brave, loyal, compassionate woman, who is also tough as nails and great fun when she wants to be,” she said.She described Sonia Gandhi as “a woman whose life has been a testament to her love for her husband and her country”, before signing off: “Love you, ma and so, so proud of you.”Sonia Gandhi’s memoir to release in NovemberPublisher Alfred A. Knopf announced earlier this week that Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’, will be published on November 10.
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The memoir traces her journey from her childhood in post-war Italy and her romance with Rajiv Gandhi during their time in Cambridge to her life in India and the personal tragedies that subsequently reshaped her life.Sonia Gandhi, 79, who remains the Congress’s longest-serving president, is also expected to revisit the assassinations of her mother-in-law and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her husband Rajiv Gandhi.The book’s cover features a black-and-white photograph of Sonia Gandhi from her youth.Describing the memoir, the publisher said it tells a story of “love, family, and an endlessly fascinating country: India”, adding that the “once famously reticent Sonia Gandhi opens up with warmth and candor” about her life.Born in Italy, Sonia Gandhi was a 19-year-old student in Cambridge when she met Rajiv Gandhi in 1965. The couple married on February 25, 1968.The memoir is scheduled to be released on November 10, 2026.
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