Blinkit sold out, Instagram lit up. Sonia Gandhi's book has people hooked, but why?

A hospital waiting room is hardly where one expects to find a book club taking shape. But media professional Vineeta Kumar’s recent appointment came with an unexpected side attraction: her copy of Sonia Gandhi’s Belonging seemed to have made everyone around her curious.“I was at the hospital, waiting for my appointment, with a copy of Sonia Gandhi's book that my husband had gifted me barely an hour earlier. I thought I'd spend the waiting time reading, but the book kept attracting curious glances and questions from fellow patients, including a medical tourist from Europe,” she recalled.The book's appeal travelled beyond the waiting room. Her doctor was curious, too, and extended the consultation by ten minutes to discuss the memoir's account of Maneka Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi.“The curiosity around the Gandhi family, I realised, was quite infectious,” Vineeta said. It is perhaps an apt little scene for a memoir that has been making its presence felt in rather unexpected ways. There is something almost paradoxical about the reception of Belonging. A memoir rooted in the political history of one of India's most prominent families has escaped political discourse and become a fixture in everyday conversation. The curiosity is palpable, and so is the scramble to get hold of a copy. From a publisher switch to a buying frenzy The buzz around Belonging did not begin on the day it hit the shelves. A change in publishers had already added intrigue to the memoir, setting off conversations even before readers could get their hands on it.Then came the release, and the interest appeared to take on a life of its own. Copies began disappearing from online platforms, with Blinkit running out of stock soon after the book became available. Those turning to Amazon were met with delivery estimates of at least a week. For a book, that is quite a wait.The online excitement was hard to miss, too. Sonia Gandhi herself joined Instagram to promote Belonging, while timelines began filling up with conversations about the memoir. It was no longer just another book release being discussed by publishing circles. People were actively looking for it, talking about it and, in some cases, racing to buy it.Akansha Mukherjee (name changed), a PR professional, said getting a copy felt almost like buying a newly launched iPhone."I got it from Blinkit, and just moments later it became sold out. The craze was so high that I was completely out of my mind to get the copy. I didn't mind a soft copy as well. I really wanted to know what the hype was about," she said.But the urgency to get a copy was only one part of the story. What was it about Sonia Gandhi's life that had people so curious?The woman behind the political figureAkash Chatterjee, a media professional, said the appeal of Belonging lies in the life of the woman behind one of India's most recognisable political names. He describes Sonia Gandhi as the most interesting Indian political figure at present, having grown up watching her navigate the highs and lows of the Congress party."Growing up, I saw her at her peak: she was Congress president for almost two decades and was often considered India's de facto PM during the Manmohan Singh era. She was part of the party's best of times: the Congress-led UPA triumphed over the BJP-led NDA twice under her leadership. And also the party's worst times, when it suffered heavy defeats in 2014 and 2019," he said.Yet, it is not merely the political journey that makes him want to read the memoir. Akash is equally interested in the personal scrutiny Sonia Gandhi faced over the years, particularly the hostility directed at her because of her Italian origins."From a very early age, I saw her being vilified, abused, and even shamed for her foreign identity. Nonetheless, she never hit back. Not even to her greatest rivals, despite belonging to the mighty Gandhi family. So that triggers my interest," he said.He wants to understand how a woman who experienced personal loss and faced relentless public criticism managed to navigate the often unforgiving world of Indian politics, a space traditionally dominated by men."I want to read the journey of a woman who lost her lover, saw herself being abused every day, and still managed to cope with the dirty lanes of Indian politics, which is predominantly considered a field for men," he added.Akash has already secured a soft copy and is keen to read it. As someone who picks up books on Indian politics almost instinctively, he said this book was an obvious addition to his reading list. What he did not anticipate, however, was the scale of public interest."Frankly, I was surprised to see the craze. It was unexpected. I do not know why people are going crazy over it. But, honestly, I like it," he said.Not just politics, but a love storyFor Akansha, the attraction goes beyond Sonia Gandhi's political career. She is particularly drawn to the personal story that lies beneath the familiar public narrative of the Gandhi family.Quoting the book's prologue, she points to Sonia Gandhi's own observation: "So much had been written about me, they insisted, but the real person they knew was nowhere in any of those writings."That, Akansha feels, is precisely what makes the memoir compelling. While much has been written about Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and the family's political legacy, she is curious about the more intimate story that often gets lost beneath the weight of history and politics."We lead extremely busy lives, but I've been cutting down on my sleep to read about Sonia Gandhi, primarily because I've always been so intrigued about the Gandhi family," she said."Lots has been written about Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and their politically rooted background. But beneath the political colour and symbol, there lies a simple love story that met with an Imtiaz Ali ending. Belonging, for me, is more about a love story — one told by Sonia Gandhi herself," Akansha commented.She is more interested in the possibility of a life that could have taken a very different turn than in revisiting the familiar political question of why Sonia Gandhi chose not to become Prime Minister."I want to know more about 'what could have been a happily ever after' rather than why Sonia chose to let go of the PM's title. Only this time, it's from the horse/main character herself," she addedA book to read, or a moment to be part of?There is another spectacle playing out alongside the rush to buy Belonging. Open X or Instagram and chances are you will come across someone posing with a copy, sharing a photograph of the book or putting it up on their stories. The book selfie, it seems, has found a rather popular subject.A Facebook user, Ranjan Chaudhary, had an interesting take on the frenzy behind the memoir. “Controversy sells, and this book had plenty: a publisher that walked away, a political row, a launch timed like a campaign. That is a news event, not a reading habit.The real test of a book culture is quieter. It's whether people return to the library next month, whether children read beyond their textbooks, and whether a debut novelist with no famous surname finds readers,” he wrote, adding, “a spike is not a habit. One bestseller does not make a reading nation.”What makes this particularly interesting is that the excitement does not appear to be limited to the usual community of avid readers. Some of those joining the online conversation do not necessarily come across as regular book buyers or readers. Yet, here they are, posing with a political memoir that has become one of the most talked-about releases of the moment.Of course, buying a book and sharing a photograph of it does not necessarily mean someone has read it, nor does it mean they won't. But it does make you wonder what exactly people are buying into. Is it an interest in Sonia Gandhi's life, the curiosity surrounding a memoir by someone who has spent decades in public life, or simply the excitement of owning something everyone seems to be talking about?And then there is the question of reading itself. In an age when people often complain about struggling to finish books, could a release like Belonging actually pull some of them out of their reading slumps?Akash, for one, is not particularly interested in keeping up with the frenzy or feeling that he might miss out if he does not finish the book quickly."No, the missing-out part does not work for me. I will take my time and read. It is for knowledge and not PR pressure," he said.The reasons for picking up Belonging may vary: political intrigue, the promise of an intimate life story, or simply the irresistible pull of a book everyone seems to be looking for. But there is a distinction between wanting to own a book and wanting to read it. Whether the current excitement marks the beginning of a deeper engagement with reading, or remains a fleeting moment of literary FOMO, is something only time will tell.For now, Sonia Gandhi’s memoir has accomplished an unlikely feat: it has turned the act of finding a book into a talking point, and its contents into a conversation among strangers.- Ends