Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has opened a personal chapter of her life for the public, sharing memories of how she met and fell in love with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. She made the move as she launched her first personal presence on social media, ahead of the release of her memoir.
In a nearly two-minute video shared on X and Instagram, Gandhi spoke about her early years in Cambridge and the first meeting that changed the course of her life. She also showed photographs from that period, including images of the restaurant where she first met Rajiv Gandhi.
“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 first post on X.
The video is part of the promotion for her upcoming memoir, “Belonging: A Journey of Love”, which is scheduled to be released in India on November 10.
How Sonia Gandhi Met Rajiv Gandhi
Speaking about their first meeting, Sonia Gandhi recalled looking for a restaurant in Cambridge that served food closer to what she was used to eating.
She said food options in England were limited at the time and that she was particularly searching for Italian food. That search eventually took her to the Varsity Restaurant, a Greek restaurant popular among European and Indian students.
“That is where I met Rajiv in that very restaurant,” she recalled.
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
Gandhi said she felt an immediate connection when she first met Rajiv.
“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 added that a mutual friend had introduced the two.
The relationship grew from friendship. Gandhi recalled spending time with Rajiv and their friends, attending parties, visiting places together and going to a Valentine’s party attended by students.
‘He Was Very Good-Looking’
Looking back at photographs from that period, Gandhi described Rajiv as both handsome and gentle.
“He was a very gentle-looking person. Of course, he was very good-looking, but that gentleness came through,” she said.
She said it was Rajiv’s gentle nature that particularly stayed with her.
“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 recalled.
Sonia Gandhi’s Social Media Debut
The video also marks a new phase for Sonia Gandhi, who had not previously maintained personal accounts on X, Instagram or Facebook.
Until now, she had largely communicated with the public through the Congress party’s official X account, where her statements and messages were shared.
After creating her own account, Gandhi followed the official Congress handle, along with the accounts of her son Rahul Gandhi, daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Her account quickly attracted a large number of followers, with several Congress leaders and others following her within hours.
Gandhi had made her Instagram debut on Thursday with posts about her forthcoming memoir, describing it as a “story of love, duty, loss and finding a place to belong”.
What Sonia Gandhi’s Memoir Covers
HarperCollins India announced last month that it would publish Belonging: A Journey of Love in India on November 10. The announcement ended uncertainty surrounding the book’s domestic release after an earlier disagreement between the author’s representatives and Penguin Random House India.
The memoir begins with Gandhi’s childhood in post-war Veneto, Italy, before following her journey to Cambridge, where she met Rajiv Gandhi in 1965.
It goes on to describe their marriage and her first encounters with Rajiv’s mother, former prime minister Indira Gandhi. Gandhi also writes about adjusting to life in India, including learning Hindi and adapting to Indian clothing, food and culture.
The book covers some of the most difficult periods in the Gandhi family’s history, including the death of Sanjay Gandhi in a plane crash, Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984 and Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991.
It also looks at Gandhi’s political journey and the Congress-led alliance’s victory in the 2004 general election. Sonia Gandhi chose not to become prime minister and instead continued to lead the Congress and its alliance, which remained in power for the next decade.
Sonia Gandhi went on to become the longest-serving president of the Congress, leading the party for nearly two decades.
