Key Points

She also penned a long note in the caption, as she wrote, “Here in Pondicherry. A town which I grew to love from 2012 to 2015 when I lived there as my son was getting educated in Auroville an international community steeped in literature,art, fashion and a sustainable way of living”.

Auroville, founded in 1968 near Puducherry, India, is an experimental township dedicated to human unity and sustainable living. The community emphasizes education, ecological practices, and spiritual growth, aiming to create a harmonious, global society.

She further mentioned, “The south of India has always been in my life in many ways be it movies, food, locations and people who are unpretentious and kind to another level”.

Puducherry consists of four small geographically unconnected districts. It was formed out of four territories of former French India, namely Pondichery (now Puducherry), Karikal (Karaikal), Mahe and Yanaon (now Yanam), excluding Chandannagar (Chandernagore), and it is named after the largest district, Puducherry, which was also the capital of French India.

Sonam was married to producer-director Rajiv Rai, with whom she worked on ‘Tridev’ and ‘Vishwatma’. Their son was diagnosed with autism at an early age. In 1997, the couple left India for the UK after a failed attempt to kill him by hitmen believed to be working for the Mumbai underworld leader Abu Salem.

Earlier, the actress spoke about the stigma of raising an autistic child in the conservative society of the 1900s. She had shared that she would come home from parties or social gatherings and invariably start crying non-stop all alone in the bathroom after her son was fast asleep. She called it an extremely tough journey during which she used to hug her son and sleep.

Sonam and Rajiv initially lived in Los Angeles and then settled in Europe. However, the marriage deteriorated, and they got divorced officially in 2016 after 25 years.

- IANS