The Love that Transcended Nationalities

The love story of Rajiv Gandhi, son of the then Indian Prime Minister, and Sonia Maino, from Italy; is quite a hidden one. Almost as legendary as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, read on to see how this fated couple came to be

Find yourself someone who looks at you like how Rajiv Gandhi looks at Sonia Maino in this picture; Source: Public Domain

A tragic love story. Not your classic 'Romeo and Juliet' but an ill-fated one all the same. A story filled with a love so strong that it was enough, more than enough. Politics is always synonymous with the Gandhi family in India, so it comes with surprise to hear that there is a quite modern and Indianised version of Hades and Persephone woven into the family fabric of the Gandhis.

Unlike the generation of the present, with fickle boys acting foolishly in matters of the heart and running scared at the mere mention of romance; Rajiv Gandhi knew it was love when he first laid eyes on the beautiful Sonia Maino.

Sit down and grab a cuppa, dear reader for this is a tale for the ages.

Like any other Rom-Com, the main leads; Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Maino met each other for the first time in a Greek eatery in 1956 London. Sonia who was studying at Cambridge at the time was a part-time waitress at the cafe. Rajiv Gandhi had come out to grab a bite with his friend Charles Antoni. Immediately enraptured by her beauty, Rajiv Gandhi requested the owner to place him closer to Sonia Maino and was told to pay a considerable sum to the proprietor.

The eager Rajiv Gandhi  readily paid up and composed for her, a poem on a napkin which was then sent through Charles Antoni, marking the beginning of their three year relationship.

Take notes boys, it is that easy to win a girl over.

The first movie watched by them together being Satyajit Ray’s Panther Panchali. Rajiv Gandhi had good game.

Warm-hearted Maino and the enchanted Gandhi were so delighted to have found each other that letters where sent to their respective homes telling their families of each other. Rajiv’s mother, Indira Gandhi immediately flew down to London in 1965 to meet the love of her son’s life.

The boy’s side agreed to the union but there was a little hesitation from the Maino family, Sonia’s father was worried about his little girl marrying into a political family. But after Rajiv Gandhi charmed his way into her father’s heart, the wedding had all green.

Preparations were underway in 1968 when Sonia joined Rajiv in India, the latter having returned to the country a year earlier. The Bachchan’s home oversaw the Mehendi ceremony for the blushing bride and the ecstatic couple were joined in holy matrimony on 25 February 1968 in an elegant function befitting the daughter-in-law and son of India’s Prime Minister.

After the rites had been performed, the guests; esteemed politicians and prominent celebrities moved to Hyderabad House where the reception was held. Alongside the country, the Gandhi family welcomed a new addition to their family and from then on the rest is history.