Born in Lahore in undivided Punjab to Nakul Sen Wadhwa, an Indian Civil Service officer and Lt.

from Indraprastha College, Delhi University, followed by Diploma Superiore en Langue Francaise from Alliance Francaise, Bangkok and Post-Graduate Diploma in Spanish Art and Literature from University of Havana, Cuba.

[2] In 1961, aged 19, Ambika married Uday Soni, an Indian Foreign Service officer.

Soni was an old family friend of Gandhi from the time when her father was posted as District collector of Amritsar during the Partition of India and worked very closely with Jawaharlal Nehru.

[3] In 1975 she was elected as the president of the Indian Youth Congress and worked closely with Sanjay Gandhi.