New Delhi, June 03: Sonia moved from the village of Lusiana to Orbassano, an industrial town in the outskirts of Turin when she was 10 years old. She was known as paesane here — a derogatory term for immigrants out of sync with fashion trends. But as her father Stefano, who was known for his honesty, worked his way up, she moved from being known as the daughter of a “ cowheard” and “ bricklayer” to the daughter of a builder who lived comfortably.
Her tutor at the Maria Auxiliadora convent school in Giaveno describes her as “ goodness itself, with a special talent for stopping two classmates from squabbling.” But because of her asthma, Sonia was the only boarder who slept alone — with windows open even in the winter.
JAVIER Moro, the Spanish author of El Sari Rojo ( The Red Saree ), which he says has sold over two lakh copies in Spain and Latin America, is a much- perturbed man after being served a legal notice by Sonia Gandhi’s lawyers, and being accused by Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi of having written an “ unauthorised, salacious and defamatory book”. Speaking on the phone from Spain, the writer declares: “ With the legal notice, they ( the Congress) are only giving the book publicity.
What have I written that is libelous? The book’s problem is opposite — it speaks highly of Sonia. They should give me an award.” Chapters of the book’s English translation available with this writer seems to support Moro’s claim.
El Sari Rojo offers fascinating insights into Sonia’s childhood and that is the only dramatically new information in the book — Moro says he culled the details after visiting her place of birth, Lusiana, and speaking to her relatives and neighbours who continue to live there. The Maino family refused him access, but there were others who were more helpful, like the best friend of Sonia’s father, whom the writer identified as a Mr Quadra. “ Another source of information was Spanish journalist Josto Maffeo, who shared the bus trip with Sonia on weekends from Orbassano to Turin,” says Moro.
The story that emerges about Sonia Gandhi’s early years from Moro’s book is this: She was christened Edvige Antonia Albina Maino by a parish priest in honour of her maternal grandmother. But her father Stefano called her Sonia, out of gratitude for the Russians, who had saved his life when he had been let down by the lure of Fascism. She suffered from asthma throughout her childhood, and her family’s constant prayer was that Stefano would find work, and that she would recover.
Her childhood home was a fry cry from 10, Janpath: hand- built by Stefano, it was made of stone, and was the last house on Rua Maino, the street where generations of the Mainos — who were settlers from Germany — had made their home. Sonia had a dog named Stalin, and when she moved to Orbassano, she was a regular at Pier Luigi’s bar, which served the best ice- cream.
In school, Sonia Gandhi hadn’t heard about India, as her teachers had focused on the Risorgimento, the Italian nationalist movement in the 19th century. She had a flair for languages, and had learnt Russian and French. Her dream of becoming an Alitalia stewardess and then an interpreter at an international organisation like the United Nations took her to Cambridge to study English.
His writing, Moro says, has been taken too literally, especially the part of the book where he says Sonia had thought of “ leaving the country that devours her children.” The dramatic reference was to the assassinations of Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
Moro says in his defence, “ Her ( Sonia’s) watchdogs are interpreting a literary statement as the worse thing ever said about India, as if it were a fact of science.” Moro claims that he had sent the book’s manuscript to Sonia through her sister Nadia, but she refused to look at it. It’s a story he finds himself riveted to — the controversy notwithstanding.
“ Imagine a woman whose only aim was to be a housewife ruling over a billion people,” he says. It’s the same compelling argument that led Jagmohan Mundhra to burn his fingers with a biopic on Sonia Gandhi starring Monica Bellucci.
The tag line for the Mundhra project was: “ The story of the woman who came to India for the love of a man and stayed for the love of the country.” That didn’t cut much ice with Sonia, and Moro’s book — which will be published in India by Roli Books — is not likely to be a 10 Janpath favourite either.
—Agencies