AUGUST 15 marks India's Independence Day, which commemorates the day in 1947 when India achieved freedom from British rule. It is celebrated with flag-hoisting ceremonies and cultural programmes in the state capitals.

The celebration is a good reason for a stroll along Indira Gandhi Street in Sofia and a look at the life of this extraordinary Indian woman.

Indira Gandhi was born on November 19, 1917. She was the only child of Kamala and Jawaharlal Nehru. She spent part of her childhood in Allahabad, where the Nehrus had their family residence, and part in Switzerland, where her mother Kamala convalesced from her periodic illnesses.

Gandhi received her college education at Somerville College, Oxford. A famous photograph from her childhood shows her sitting by the bedside of Mahatma Gandhi, as he recovered from one of his fasts; and though she was not actively involved in the freedom struggle, she came to know the entire Indian political leadership.

When Gandhi was 17, her mother died of cancer. Devastated by her loss, Gandhi began five years of studying in Europe and India seemingly without direction. Although Gandhi had vowed to remain single, she decided to marry Feroze Gandhi, a family friend. He was a Parsee, a member of a small cultural group that had fled from Persia centuries earlier to escape Muslim persecution. Since the Nehrus were of the Brahmin or priestly class of India, Gandhi was criticised for her choice of a husband not only by her father but also from the public. Despite these protests, the couple were married in 1942.

Over time, Gandhi together with her father, had become increasingly politically active. Shortly after her wedding, she was jailed for nine months, an event she described as being crucial in her life.

Following her release she became increasingly involved in politics. During this time, she also gave birth to two sons, Rajiv and Sanjay.

When India achieved independence in 1947, Gandhi's father became the nation's first prime minister. Because Nehru was a widower, he needed Gandhi to act as hostess at official government functions. Gradually she and her husband drifted apart and although they were never divorced, they lived separately until his death in 1960. Gandhi lived in Nehru's shadow for years, but she eventually began to speak out during her own campaigns and at functions her father could not attend.

In 1959, she became the fourth woman elected president of the India National Congress. Influenced by Nehru's socialist leanings, she brought a fresh perspective to the party and sought to increase women's participation in politics.

When Jawaharlal Nehru, died of a stroke in 1964, his daughter was not seriously considered as a successor. That same year, Nehru's successor Lal Shastri appointed Gandhi as minister of information and broadcasting, the fourth highest position in the cabinet. Since many Indians were illiterate at that time, radio and television played a major part in informing them. As minister, she most importantly encouraged the making of inexpensive radios and started a family planning programme.

When in 1966, Shastri also died suddenly, Gandhi was chosen to fill the leadership void in India. Overnight she became the leader of the world's largest democracy and perhaps the most powerful woman in the world.

She won the election in 1967 and was reelected in 1971 by campaigning with the slogan "Abolish Poverty."

In the 1971 election Gandhi won by a substantial margin over conservative opponents. During her tenure as prime minister India began to make great strides in the areas of food production and development of an industrial base.

Yet, this was a politically tumultuous time. In late 1971, Gandhi gave military support to a successful attempt by East Bengal to secede from Pakistan, which resulted in the creation of the state of Bangladesh. Following the Pakistan conflict, Gandhi won the 1972 election, again by a large majority, but her defeated opponent charged that she had violated election laws. The high court of Allahabad ruled against her in 1975, posing the prospect of her being removed from parliament and being barred from politics for six years.

Later, the conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court of India.

As a result, adversaries criticised her and her administration in general. To secure her power and because of escalating riots, on June 26, 1975, Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency which limited the personal freedom of Indians

In 1980, Gandhi was re-elected to her fourth term as prime minister. Her son Sanjay became her principal political adviser, and all legal cases against both Gandhis were withdrawn. After Sanjay died in an airplane crash in 1980, she began grooming her son Rajiv for leadership of the party.

In the 1980s several Indian states sought independence from the central government, the most violent among the dissidents being the Sikh extremists in the Punjab province, whose religion that rejects class distinctions and idol worship,. In June 1984, Gandhi sent the Indian army to the Punjab to drive Sikh guerrillas out of the Golden Temple of Armistar, the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion. Over 600 people died in the conflict.

On October 31, 1984, Gandhi was assassinated by two of her own Sikh security guards while she walked through her garden.

Upon his mother's death Rajiv became prime minister. He was assassinated in 1991 at a re-election campaign rally.