Congress leader Anand Sharma’s book on former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi called India’s Indira was released in the capital on Saturday. The event saw the presence of the country’s top leaders including President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi among others. Gandhi delivered the keynote speech on behalf of his mother, Sonia Gandhi, who has been advised rest by doctors.
Reading out his mother’s words, Rahul Gandhi said, “Indira Gandhi left us 33 years ago, but some of us present here today have living and lively memories of her. I will leave it to the scholars and analysts to speak and write about her legacy to the country”.
Talking about her mother-in-law, Sonia Gandhi’s speech further said, “I had the immense good fortune of living with her for sixteen years. The Indira Gandhi I knew was the woman, the nurturing mother-in-law, mother and grandmother. How kindly she welcomed me, nervous and shy as I was, into her home. She understood my difficulties, drew me into her heart and opened my eyes to India’s great history and culture”.
Talking about the kind of bond they shared, Sonia Gandhi said, “She was a friend and mentor to me, careful not to impose her will, except in little things like making me drink milk and eat spinach, which I detested, while I was expecting my first child”.
“Her mother’s illness and untimely death, her own struggle as a young girl with loneliness and loss, made her deeply sensitive to the pain of others, and protective of them”, she added.
Watch the full speech:
