Rajiv's World

Book excerpt: Rajiv, authored by Sonia Gandhi in 1992, the year after her husband's assassination, was a portrait of him in the full current of his life. This book is a portrait of him too - but with a difference. It is one of which in a sense he is the author, since it is entirely composed of his photographs. Rajiv Gandhi, India's youngest-ever Prime Minister, was known world-wide for his qualities of leadership and his personal charisma. However, until the publication of Rajiv, in which some of his photographs appeared for the first time, few were aware that he was also an accomplished photographer. In this volume, Sonia Gandhi offers a wider selection of his photographs. Her brief but informative introduction explains his photography in context and discloses the significance it held for him. The photographs in the book, most of which have never been published before, span almost four decades, from his childhood to his last year in office. They have been grouped under the broad themes of family, nature and people. Within these categories are presented entrancing landscapes, minutely observed particulars of nature, abstract studies and fascinating family vignettes.