Named after his maternal grandmother Kamala Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20, 1944 in then Bombay and was the eldest son of Feroz Gandhi and Indira Gandhi.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres in a suicide bombing attack on May 21, 1991, during a public meeting while campaigning in Tamil Nadu's Sriperumbudur for a Lok Sabha Congress candidate.
Since his young age, Rajiv Gandhi hardly showed any interest in politics or joining his mother Indhira Gandhi or grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru’ office. In fact, Rajiv Gandhi had fascination for flying planes for which, he went to Delhi to take professional training. After being trained from Flying Club, Rajiv Gandhi joined Air India in 1970 and worked there for nearly a decade. He remained apolitical till his brother Sanjay Gandhi’s death in 1980.
If some reports are to be believed, Rajiv Gandhi was also interested in music. He had a great inclination towards Indian classical, modern and even western songs. He often used to spend his free time in listening to radio.
Rajiv Gandhi was also a keen photographer. After his death, his wife, Sonia Gandhi came out with the book "Rajiv's World: Photographs by Rajiv Gandhi". The book has photographs clicked by Rajiv over four decades.
To commemorate the death anniversary of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, each year May 21 is observed as Anti-terrorism day across India. The day has been observed with the aim to highlight the importance of fighting with the activities of terrorism.
The objective behind the observance of Anti-Terrorism Day is to wean away the people from terrorism, violence and to generate awareness in the country. The day spreads the message of peace, humanity, unity and harmony among the people and make them aware about anti-social act of terrorism.