Sonia Gandhi documented bringing a home-cooked Christmas lunch in 1978 to Tihar Jail, where Indira Gandhi was serving a week-long detention following the post-Emergency political shift. At the former prime minister's request, the meal was shared with her three compound guards and Charles Sobhraj's jailed Australian accomplice. The menu was specifically adjusted from sliced ham to roast chicken after learning of the Australian prisoner's dietary preferences. Sonia Gandhi delivered the food, a book, and holiday cards despite a prior note from her mother-in-law urging her to remain home with her children.
Key points
Indira Gandhi shared her Christmas lunch with three prison guards and Charles Sobhraj's A…: Indira Gandhi shared her Christmas lunch with three prison guards and Charles Sobhraj's Australian accomplice.
Sonia Gandhi delivered the holiday meal, cards from her children, and a book despite rece…: Sonia Gandhi delivered the holiday meal, cards from her children, and a book despite receiving contrary instructions.
The former prime minister was released from Tihar Jail the day after the Christmas meal w…: The former prime minister was released from Tihar Jail the day after the Christmas meal was delivered.
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"My mother-in-law felt sorry for her," Sonia writes (Photo: PTI).
NEW DELHI: On Christmas Day 1978, Sonia Gandhi carried a home-cooked lunch into Tihar Jail for her imprisoned mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, and, at the former Prime Minister's request, enough extra for a young Australian woman she describes as the accomplice of serial killer Charles Sobhraj.The episode appears in Belonging: A Journey of Love, Sonia Gandhi's memoir, released on November 10. It is set in the week Indira Gandhi spent in Tihar after the Janata Party, the combined opposition formation, came to power in the elections that followed the Emergency. Sonia writes that she visited the jail daily during that period.Christmas, she recalls, had always been a special day in the household, especially for the children, even when Sanjay and Rajiv were little boys. "The celebration had no religious meaning for us, but it was a festive day when we exchanged gifts and decorated the house with colourful baubles and red poinsettias," she writes."But on this Christmas my mother-in-law was in jail. I felt that I had to do something special…
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