All stories by Sunanda K Datta Ray
Finding food and drink in London
Rediff.com26 Dec 2020'London being Tier 2, pubs can serve drinks but only with a 'substantial meal',' sighs Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
What I got when I flew Air India for Rs 169,613
Rediff.com14 Dec 2020Even a rump Air India could not hope to get away with the shoddy service and scrappy fare for which I paid nearly two lakh, complains Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
What will post-Covid India look like?
Rediff.com30 Aug 2020'The norm will be even less public accountability, even less transparency, tweets instead of press conferences, TV lectures rather than parliamentary debate, and greater political authoritarianism,' predicts Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
What Modi can learn from Singapore's Lee
Rediff.com8 Aug 2020'Lee Kuan Yew told me he used to look to India, especially the writings of Nehru and Sardar Panikkar, for guidance on governance.' 'It's ironic that India should have so much to learn of the spirit of democracy from his son,' notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
What if India banned Chinese restaurants...
Rediff.com11 Jul 2020China will flood direct flights to India with wholesale takeaways of the authentic stuff; Indian businessmen will fight for the commission and the consumers for the cuisine, predicts Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
America's race bitterness erupts in India's communal bitterness
Rediff.com26 Jun 2020'India shares the world's pain, but India's pain is not the world's.' 'Little that occurs here is even reported abroad,' notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
The Marie Antoinette of Indian politics
Rediff.com6 Jun 2020'Everybody knows that any solution would upstage and expose official bungling.' 'That is something Mrs Sitharaman's masters will not allow.' 'No matter how high the cost in human misery, they will squander a fortune on the unnecessary Central Vista extravaganza,' notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Lockdown or lawless tyranny?
Rediff.com10 May 2020We may be witnessing a slow erosion of the democratic republic and the emergence of the police State, warns Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
The tragedy of Indian workers abroad
Rediff.com23 Apr 2020'This country's backwardness is exposed when Indians bribe, coax and cajole agents to get back-breaking jobs abroad to save a little money at home,' observes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Namaste is the new Hello!
Rediff.com8 Apr 2020The bear hug in which the Prime Minister loves to smother Western VIPs might strike as theatrical, boastful and, above all, unhygienic, in these stricken times, says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
From raja to praja:Jyotiraditya's likely role in BJP
Rediff.com29 Mar 2020They will fawn over a prize catch who has brought a rich dowry of Gwalior-Chambal politicians. But in the end, all BJP members are prajas of Amit Shah and Narendra Modi, notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Why India is a poor country of very rich people
Rediff.com12 Feb 2020'Nowhere amidst the efflorescence of 13 military bands, 16 marching contingents and 22 tableaux was there any hint that far from being a rich country of poor people, the closely guarded secret is that India is a poor country of extremely rich people,' notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
The Reinvention of India's Past
Rediff.com6 Feb 2020The BJP's message is that the past must be reinvented as creatively as imagination allows, states Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
What's all the hullabaloo over CAA!
Rediff.com18 Jan 2020'Whatever the legal position, it is my understanding that in practice, the Indian authorities have always treated Hindu refugees from Pakistan and Bangladesh far more sympathetically than Muslims,' notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Why Indians are immigrating illegally
Rediff.com21 Dec 2019Driven by hardship, adventurous souls mortgage their homesteads in Punjab or Haryana, pawn the family jewellery and borrow heavily to satisfy the greed of the criminal traffickers who organise their trips, points out Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Abhijit's Nobel and the challenges ahead
Rediff.com4 Nov 2019'The fruition of Nobel's hope lies in the response of a caring government that can rise above politics and propaganda, not in the frenetic raptures of a public that worships fame for fame's sake,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Jallianwala Bagh apology: Should we really care?
Rediff.com21 Apr 2019I can't see what purpose can be served by an apology by a British government that cannot in any way be blamed for one sadistic man running amok 100 years ago, argues Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Did Doval exchange a princess for Christian Michel?
Rediff.com17 Dec 2018'As she was dragged off the yacht, the princess cried, "I won't go back to the UAE, just kill me now!"' 'She hasn't been heard of since then.' 'Perhaps she is dead.' 'If so, Modi's government has blood on its hands,' notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Is this why govt needs money from RBI?
Rediff.com7 Dec 2018Money permits patronage. Money means power. No wonder details of the crores locked up in NPAs and never repaid loans are top secret, Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Why did 17 million Indians leave India last year?
Rediff.com13 Nov 2018When 17 million Indians seek their fortune abroad it only means people are losing faith in the government's ability to honour its promises, says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.