Congress leader Sonia Gandhi made her debut on social media platform X on Saturday, sharing a video in which she revisited her love story with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and recalled their first meeting at a Greek restaurant in Cambridge.
The video, shared ahead of the release of her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, offers a glimpse into her early relationship with Rajiv, including what first attracted her to him and how their friendship developed.
“In a small Greek restaurant in Cambridge my journey of love began,” Sonia Gandhi wrote in her first post on X.
“Rajiv and I created a world filled with love, laughter and memories. On 10th November, I share that world with you,” she added.
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. https://t.co/zvN5Rqqstf
— Sonia Gandhi (@SoniaGandhi) October 24, 2026
Sonia Gandhi Recalls First Meeting With Rajiv Gandhi
In the video, Sonia is seen looking through old photographs as she recalls her student days in England and the circumstances that led to her first meeting with Rajiv.
She said food in England was very different at the time, prompting her to search for restaurants serving meals closer to the Italian food she was accustomed to.
“Food in England was awful in those days. You didn’t have so many restaurants, you know, like you have today,” she recalled.
Her search eventually led her to a Greek restaurant popular among European and Indian students in Cambridge.
“It was a Greek restaurant where many students, especially 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.
Recalling her first impression of Rajiv, she said she felt an immediate connection.
“When I first met him, I felt almost immediately that, you know, it was someone I would really love to be with. And of course, I learned that it was the same for him,” she said.
The Congress leader also recalled that a mutual friend had introduced them, after which they began spending time together, attending parties and socialising with other students.
She remembered attending a Valentine’s Day party with Rajiv and their friends.
Describing what first attracted her to him, she said Rajiv was good-looking but that it was his gentle nature that particularly stood out. “He was a very gentle-looking person. Of course he was very good-looking, but that gentleness came through,” she said.
The couple married in 1968. Rajiv Gandhi later served as India’s Prime Minister from 1984 to 1989 before his assassination in May 1991.
Sonia Gandhi’s Memoir To Release On November 10
Sonia’s X debut comes just two days after she joined Instagram on October 22, when she shared the first look at her upcoming memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love.
The book traces her journey from her childhood in Italy to her marriage into the Nehru-Gandhi family, her years with Rajiv Gandhi and her eventual entry into Indian politics.
It also explores major personal and political events in her life, including the assassinations of former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and her years as Congress president.
The 544-page memoir, scheduled for release on November 10, is being published globally by Alfred A. Knopf, with HarperCollins India handling its release in the country.
