Sonia Gandhi publishes Memoir tracing her journey

NEW DELHI, Nov 10: Sonia Gandhi went from a small Italian village to the heart of power in the world's most populous nation, becoming the matriarch of a political dynasty which has shaped much of independent India's history.

Now, the famously private 79-year-old is to publish her memoir, "Belonging: A Journey of Love", offering an account of a life shaped by what she has called "love, duty, loss and finding a place to belong".

The book, out Tuesday, arrives as the Congress party she once led seeks to regain ground, with her son Rahul back in the spotlight following youth-led protests against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government.

Born in 1946 into an Italian Catholic family, Sonia's roots have made her a frequent target of nationalist criticism.

She had an unremarkable childhood near Turin in northern Italy before meeting Rajiv Gandhi in 1965 while studying English. He was a student at Cambridge University.

"In a small Greek restaurant in Cambridge my journey of love began," she wrote ahead of the release of the book.

"When I first met him, I felt almost immediately that, you know, he was someone I would really love to be with," she added in a video released on social media. "And, of course, I learned that it was the same for him."

Rajiv was the scion of India's foremost political dynasty.

His grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, was the country's first prime minister, while his mother, Indira Gandhi, took office in 1966. �"AFP