In her newly released autobiography, 'Belonging: A Journey of Love,' Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has opened up about the profound personal tragedy of losing her first child shortly after his birth in January 1969. The memoir details the emotional toll of the loss, the difficult decisions surrounding the infant's final rites, and the lasting impact of a malicious newspaper report that followed the event.
Sonia Gandhi recalls that she and her husband, Rajiv Gandhi, were overjoyed upon learning of the pregnancy in September 1968. Her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, was equally delighted, famously remarking to a friend, "May I let you into a secret? I am expecting to become a grandmother in April. We are all thrilled." During the pregnancy, Indira Gandhi took an active role in overseeing Sonia's health, prescribing specific diets and exercise routines, which Sonia admits she found challenging to follow at the time.
At the beginning of her seventh month, Sonia experienced complications and was hospitalized. On January 18, 1969, she gave birth to a baby boy. Although the delivery was normal, the infant was placed in an incubator. Sonia describes him as a "tiny, perfectly formed boy, with thick, black hair and long, slim fingers." Despite their immediate attachment, the couple was warned that the baby's survival was uncertain. He passed away at 6:30 a.m. the following morning.
Following the tragedy, the family faced the difficult task of deciding on the burial. Rajiv Gandhi explained that Hindu tradition typically involved releasing a newborn into a river, but Sonia firmly rejected this, recalling a disturbing sight of a body she had once seen at the Okhla barrage. Ultimately, Rajiv and his brother, Sanjay Gandhi, buried the infant beneath a blooming pink bougainvillaea bush at the family's farm in Mehrauli.
Sonia Gandhi writes that her grief was further exacerbated by a cruel report in a right-wing opposition newspaper, which claimed, "Indira Gandhi failed in her attempt to become the grandmother of a bastard child." She recalls showing the article to Rajiv, who was deeply indignant and urged her to ignore such malicious attacks, noting that they were a recurring feature of public life for his family.
In the months that followed, Sonia found solace in the company of family and friends, including Teji Bachchan, who gifted her a puppy to help ease her sorrow. By October 1969, Sonia discovered she was pregnant again. She spent the duration of that pregnancy on bed rest, eventually giving birth to their son, Rahul Gandhi, on June 19, 1970.
