Belonging: A Journey of Love is Sonia Gandhi's warm, emotionally led memoir, far less political than the noise around it, and its honesty is strongest where it is most private.
The book deserves a read, as a leader who rarely speaks at length has done so, and a publishing row and managed disclosure made it a political event. The Hindustan Times, citing unnamed sources, said Penguin India's deal collapsed after she refused edits on Modi, the RSS and Chinese intrusions; Penguin denied it. A disclaimer here: I am yet to read the book, and this by no means is a book review. It is observations and takeaways based on excerpts and secondary media sources. One thing is for sure: it is a bestseller and reports of a frenzy are anecdotal; the first printing of 100,000 copies is an accomplishment in itself.
The book follows Sonia Gandhi from postwar Italy to the centre of Indian power: her 1965 meeting with Rajiv Gandhi in Cambridge, the deaths of Sanjay, Indira and Rajiv, a reluctant entry into politics. Politics arrives late: the 2004 victory appears only around page 420 of 544. Vir Sanghvi reads it as three books: a love story, a portrait of Indira and a closing argument about the Congress, the RSS and Modi. It is the third part where the book is weakest. The extracts read as immediate and scene-driven: The account of Indira's assassination is first-person, often present tense, with short sentences and sensory detail.
On honesty, the book looks candid about feeling and guarded about power, as the excerpts suggest. She describes trauma and depression after Rajiv's assassination, and tells The Hindu that some compromises she made as Congress president may not have achieved their purpose. She calls the Emergency a mistake and believes Indira came to feel the same. She calls Indira a democrat at heart and blames Sanjay. Critics list what is missing, from Bofors and Shah Bano to her years without Indian citizenship.
Selection is built into the genre: so far the vivid scenes are private, while contested decisions get summary treatment. The sharpest onslaught is on Sanjay and Maneka, outside today's Congress leadership, a familiar pattern in family memoirs and the one to test. The book is indeed a handbook of contemporary history because she stood inside six decades of disputed events, but it is testimony, not record.
Treat Belonging as a primary source for what only she could know: scenes, fears and household politics. Overall, it sounds like an interesting read and worth spending Rs 849, at least, I would. Should one expect honesty and candour? No harm in expecting it, but it is rare when it comes from a politician, even a reluctant one.
The writer is Sr. Editor with The Pioneer; Views presented are personal.