Delivering Gandhi

In an interview with G2 The Global Gujarati community publication Dr Rustom Soonawala reminisces about the time the late Prime Minister Indira Firoze Gandhi consulted him for her daughter-in-law Maneka’s delivery. The magazine was forwarded to Parsiana by reader Rashid Khosravi.

Dr Rustom Soonawala and Varun Gandhi

"When the emergency ended and Indira Gandhi lost power, she was extremely concerned about her family’s security. Maneka was pregnant, and with the situation being what it was, her mother referred me to Ms Gandhi, and I became Maneka’s gynecologist. But come January 1980, Indira was back in power. I did not expect to deliver the baby since the political situation had calmed down in Delhi. Maneka, however, was keen on having me as her doctor. As AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Science) does not allow non-resident doctors, Indira Gandhi wrote a letter to the director of AIIMS requesting that I be permitted to deliver her daughter-in-law’s baby” Varun Gandhi in March 1980.
Varun and his father Sanjay are both technically Parsis as Sanjay’s father Firoze Gandhi was a Parsi from Allahabad. Varun is an office bearer of the Bharatiya Janata Party and an advocate of militant Hindutva. His cousin Rahul Gandhi belongs to the Congress Party of which he is the vice president.