The Red Sari

The Red Sari traces the remarkable journey of Sonia Gandhi, from her idyllic childhood in Italy, to winning the elections in India and becoming one of the most powerful women in the world.

In 1965, Sonia Maino, a 19-year-old Italian student met a young Indian boy, Rajiv Gandhi, while they were both studying in Cambridge. She came from a humble family near Turin; he had the most powerful lineage in India. It was the beginning of a love story that not even death could end. For love, Maino left her past behind so as to blend in with her bewildering new country, India. This was a nation of twenty million gods, eight hundred languages and five hundred political parties. Her courage, integrity, and devotion would turn her into a revered and beloved figure.

With information sourced from close friends and colleagues, this book examines how Sonia Maino transformed herself from a naïve and shy young woman into the leader of one-sixth of humanity. From her idyllic childhood, to her passionate love affair, and from her days as a docile daughter-in-law, to her current status of being the only Indian politician to have turned down the position of Prime Minister, The Red Sari tells the story of an extraordinary woman whose dreams of home, hearth and anonymity were struck down by the hands of fate.