Hans News Service New Delhi

Towardsthe end of 1973, Sanjay Gandhi was introduced to Maneka Gandhi, “a pretty and vivacious girl, ten years younger than him and still a minor”.

Within a year, they were married and Maneka, now 18, became part of the Gandhi family, recalls Sonia Gandhi in her memoir “Belonging: A Journey of Love”. She narrates the oft discussed story of the “high-spirited and talkative girl" who became the “Choti Bahu” and the domestic and political fallout that would be termed a "reality show" today.

“Maneka was…full of zest. It was refreshing at first to have a younger sister-in-law in the house. But slowly, the atmosphere began to change, with irritations cropping up in the home,” Gandhi writes in the book.

The 526-page book, published by HarperCollins India, covers the arc of Gandhi's remarkable life -- her childhood in post-war Italy, her marriage into the Nehru-Gandhi family, the assassination of her husband Rajiv Gandhi and her entry into politics.

Gandhi, who was addressed by the staff as “Bahurani”, would think of Maneka and herself as “equal daughters of the house” with enough space to share between them.

“...but she probably saw it as a putdown. When she spoke rudely, by and large I'd remain silent to keep the peace, but when I felt it had gone too far, I wouldn't hold back and would respond curtly,” the famously reticent Gandhi recalls in the book. Soon into the marriage, the differences between Sanjay and Maneka would come to the notice of other members of the family when ”the exchange of words between them became noisier and more heated”.

“When annoyed, she would use expletives, even in the presence of my mother-in-law.

Maneka seemed to “settle down” when she began to accompany Sanjay to political functions and programmes, according to the book.

Gandhi writes that Maneka's influence on Sanjay started interfering with his relation with Rajiv. The relationship between the brothers, who were inseparable till a few months ago, turned bitter.