Family and personal life

A member of the Nehru Gandhi family, she was married to Feroze Gandhi at the age of 25, in the year 1942. Firstly, her younger son Sanjay had been her chosen heir, but after his death in a flying accident in June 1980, his mother persuaded a reluctant elder son Rajiv Gandhi to quit his job as a pilot and enter politics in February 1981. Over a decade later, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated.Gandhis yoga guru, Dhirendra Brahmachari, helped her in making certain decisions and also executed certain top level political tasks on her behalf, especially from 1975 to 1977 when Gandhi dissolved Parliament, declared a state of emergency and suspended civil liberties. The nature of his relationship with Indira Gandhi was the subject of speculation and he was known in some circles as the Indian Rasputin.