Indira Gandhi: The 'Iron Lady of India', a leading stateswoman, was once a lonely child

Today marks the 102nd birth anniversary of Indira Gandhi, former Indian Prime Minister. Popularly referred to as the Iron Lady of India, this late stateswoman of the country led her nation for perhaps one of the longest tenures. Indira Gandhi has been trending on social media on her birth anniversary and we bring you her life and times through pictures

Indira Gandhi was born on November 19 1917 in Allahabad, India. Her childhood was lonely and unhappy what with her father Jawaharlal Nehru busy in his political activities and mother Kamala Nehru often bed-ridden with illness. Yet, it was her father, the late Nehru who was her mentor and guide. Indira Gandhi served as her father's personal assistant and hostess during his tenure as Prime Minister between 1947 and 1964.

Indira Gandhi (her maiden name was Indira Nehru) was born into a Kashmiri Pandit family in Allahabad, India. Her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, was India's first Prime Minister. She was the only child of her parents (a younger brother was born, but died young).

Indira Gandhi grew up with her mother, Kamala Nehru, at the family's large estate - Anand Bhavan. Her father was often away, directing political activities, while her mother was frequently bed-ridden with illness, and later suffered an early death from tuberculosis. She had limited contact with her father and it was mostly through letters.

Young Indira: Who would imagine this dainty pretty lady would turn out to become India's Iron Lady. Take this: Indira Gandhi led India as the Prime Minister of the country from January 1966 until March 1977, then again from January 1980 until her assassination in October 1984

Indira was mostly taught at home by tutors, but intermittently attended school until matriculation in 1934. She was a student at the Modern School in Delhi, St Cecilia's and St Mary's Christian convent schools in Allahabad, the International School of Geneva, the Ecole Nouvelle in Bex, and the Pupils' Own School in Poona and Bombay, which is affiliated to University of Mumbai. She and her mother Kamala Nehru moved to Belur Math headquarters of Ramakrishna Mission where Swami Ranganathananda was her guardian later she went on to study at the Vishwa Bharati in Santiniketan, which later in 1951 became Visva-Bharati University. It was during her interview that Rabindranath Tagore named her Priyadarshini, literally "looking at everything with kindness" in Sanskrit, and she came to be known as Indira Priyadarshini Nehru. A year later, however, she had to leave university to attend to her ailing mother in Europe. While there, it was decided that Indira would continue her education at the University of Oxford. After her mother died, she briefly attended the Badminton School before enrolling at Somerville College in 1937 to study history. Indira had to take the entrance examination twice, having failed at her first attempt with a poor performance in Latin. At Oxford, she did well in history, political science and economics, but her grades in Latin—a compulsory subject—remained poor. She did, however, have an active part within the student life of the university, such as the Oxford Majlis Asian Society.

In the 1950s, Indira served her father unofficially as a personal assistant during his tenure as the Prime Minister of India. End of the 1950s she became President of the Congress Party. After her father's death in 1964, she was appointed as a member of Rajya Sabha (upper house) and served the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's cabinet as Minister of Information and Broadcasting

A complete woman : Albeit her political commitments, Indira Gandhi gave enough time to her two sons Rajiv Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi.

This is who she was - an Iron Lady - in command of her nation and her political ambitions

The first eleven years of Indira's position as Prime Minister saw her evolving from the perception of Congress party leaders as their puppet to a strong leader with the iron resolve to split the party for her policy positions or to go to war with Pakistan to liberate Bangladesh. At the end of this term in 1977, she had become a dominating figure in Indian politics that Congress party president D. K. Barooah had coined the phrase "India is Indira and Indira is India"

The paparazzi cannot get enough of this magnetic lady of Indian politics

Indira Gandhi pictured here with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (then Jacqueline Kennedy). An interview made with Jacqueline Kennedy soon after John F Kennedy's assassination showed her acid side when she talked about Indira Gandhi as a "bitter, kind of pushy, horrible woman."

Look at her magnetic personality which pulled crowds from far

The Emergency saw the entry of Gandhi's younger son, Sanjay Gandhi (left), into Indian politics. Sanjay wielded tremendous power during the emergency without holding any Government office. It was said that during the Emergency he virtually ran India along with his friends, especially Bansi Lal. It was also quipped that Sanjay Gandhi had total control over his mother and that the government was run by the PMH (Prime Minister House) rather than the PMO (Prime Minister Office).

In this picture : Indira Gandhi with her older son Rajiv Gandhi, who became the Prime Minister of India after Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31, 1984

Iconic picture - Three generations of India's leading political family - the Gandhis

Keeping herself well informed : Indira Gandhi began her day scanning various newspapers

A rare unseen picture of Indira Gandhi inside a cave leading up to Maata Vaishnov Devi shrine, a must visit for Hindu devotees in their lifetime

As we wrap our gallery of pictures on the late Indira Gandhi, as they say, this picture says it all. The magnetic Iron woman that she was, pulled crowds from far. When she talked, people listened. This is an ode to her birth anniversary