Sonia Gandhi Makes X Debut, Recalls Rajiv Gandhi Meeting Ahead Of Memoir Launch

Sonia Gandhi has made her debut on social media platform X, sharing a video that recalls her first meeting with Rajiv Gandhi ahead of the launch of her memoir. The Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson posted the clip on Saturday along with a teaser for Belonging: A Journey of Love.

The memoir is slated for release on November 10. Sonia Gandhi's first book traces her personal journey, including memories of Rajiv Gandhi and experiences from her younger days to the present.

“In a small Greek restaurant in Cambridge, my journey of love began. Rajiv and I created a world filled with love, laughter and memories. On 10th November, I share that world with you,” she wrote in her post.

Cambridge Meeting Story

The video takes viewers back to Cambridge. It shows photographs of the couple and the Varsity Restaurant, a Greek eatery in Cambridge, England, where they were students and first met.

“Food in England in those days was awful. In those days, you didn't have so many restaurants, you know, like you have today,” she said.

She then described how she found the restaurant. “And then, we discovered this place (Varsity Restaurant). It was a Greek restaurant where many European students, but also Indian students, used to go for their meals. And that is then where I met Rajiv in that very restaurant,” she said.

Her first impression was immediate. “When I first met him, I felt almost immediately that you know he was someone I would really love to be with. And, of course, I learned that it was the same for him,” she said.

She also recalled how their friendship began to grow after an introduction by a mutual friend. “I remember when I first met him, a friend, a common friend, introduced us. Then, you know, we became friends. Then going to parties with friends, or going to see sights, or… We went to a Valentine party where there were lots of students,” she said.

What stayed with her most was his manner. “He was a very gentle-looking person. Of course, he was very good-looking. But that gentleness came through. So that was something which really touched me and struck me. So that, of course, I'll never forget when I first met him,” she said.

Memoir And Social Media

The book covers more than that first encounter. Sonia Gandhi's debut memoir follows her life story, from her early years to the present, and includes memories of Rajiv Gandhi.

The upcoming memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, follows her life from childhood in post-war Italy and her romance with Rajiv Gandhi to her move to India and the personal losses that shaped her life and relationship with her adopted country.

She had joined Instagram on Thursday, two days earlier, and used it to post a video that gave readers an early look at the book. "I look forward to sharing it with you," she wrote in the post. In that first Instagram message, she described the memoir as a story of love, duty, loss and finding a place to belong.

The recollection also ties back to a key date in her life. Sonia married Rajiv Gandhi on February 25, 1968.