New Delhi: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday invoked a childhood lesson from his grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi during his speech in the Lok Sabha, while describing women as a “central and driving force” of the country.
Participating in the debate on the women’s quota bill in Parliament, Rahul Gandhi said that when he was young, he was afraid of darkness. He recalled that Indira Gandhi had then advised him that if one does not go into darkness, one cannot understand truth.
Here’s the anecdote
Using the anecdote in the House, the Congress leader said women often possess the courage to confront difficult realities and play a vital role in shaping society. He described them as a key force in India’s progress.
“When I was a little boy, I used to be very scared of darkness. We used to have this huge dog, who used to attack my sister (Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) and me all the time. We were scared of going out in the darkness,” he said .
‘She caught my hand…’
“One day my grandmother found out. And I am saying this because it was one of the most powerful lessons taught to me in my life by a woman, by a grandmother,” he said.
“My parents had gone out for dinner. She ca
ught my hand, took me out to the dark garden. She left me, and said, ‘stay here, do not move’. And she left. I watched her going away. She was wearing a yellow sari I still remember,” he said, adding how scared he was at that point.
He said he did not have the courage to tell her he did not want to stay there. “She went away for 1-2 minutes. For me it was 2-3 hours. I was imagining the dog coming to bite me; I was imagining ghosts, snakes,” he said.
Soon, Indira came back and asked, him: ‘What are you scared of?’ To this, he replied: ‘Dadi, I am scared of that dog, I am scared of somebody being in garden; bats; snakes. I am scared of things I cannot see.”
The LoP recalled Indira’s reply to this. “She said no, Rahul, you are not scared of the darkness or the dogs or bats. You are only scared of your mind, your imagination…” he recalled.
He further recalled Indira saying: “You should not be scared of the darkness; the truth most often is in the darkness. If you do not have the courage to face fears, to go into darkness, you will not be able to understand truth.”
The remarks came amid a heated debate over the proposed women’s reservation legislation, with opposition parties and the government exchanging sharp views on its intent and implementation. Earlier in the discussion, Rahul Gandhi had also criticised the bill, saying it was different from the women’s reservation legislation passed in 2023.
The special Parliament session on Friday saw the women’s quota proposal emerge as one of the central political flashpoints, with leaders across parties addressing its implications for representation and electoral reforms.