Sunanda K. Datta-Ray was the last 'Editor' of a major Indian newspaper, The Statesman (Calcutta and New Delhi), and the first Indian journalist to write for the International Herald Tribune and Time Magazine.^[1] Today, in India, there are only proprietor-editors, self-titled as 'Editor-in-Chief'. Datta-Ray edited The Statesman until an internal coup by the then Managing Director C.R. Irani, who abolished the position of 'Editor' and made himself 'Editor-in-Chief'. At the time Datta-Ray was on sabbatical at the East-West Center in Honolulu.^[2][3] Incidentally, he was also the last Editor-In-Residence at the East-West Center.^[4] Datta-Ray was flying on Singapore Airlines when Singapore intelligence contacted Datta-Ray to arrange an appointment in Singapore during his stop-over in the island-state on his way back to Calcutta from Honolulu. They offered him the position of Editorial Consultant^[5] to Singapore's The Straits Times newspaper. He accepted and worked there for approximately six years.

This was the second time Datta-Ray had been offered a job in Singapore. The first time was in the mid-1970s by S.R. Nathan (President of Singapore) who was, at the time, head of Singapore's Intelligence Services. It is reported that Datta-Ray was recommended to Nathan by the founder of India's Intelligence Services, Mr. Cow because the latter wanted Datta-Ray out of India.^{[citation needed]}

After The Straits Times, Datta-Ray was appointed a supernumerary fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford.^[6] He was appointed by the noted historian of religion and magic in medieval England, Sir Keith Thomas.

Datta-Ray returned to Singapore in 2007 to write a book with Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.^[7] The project is unique and based on a series of one-on-one interviews between M.M. Lee and Datta-Ray.^[8]

Personal History

Datta-Ray might be the last of a society produced by the inextricable intermeshing of high-caste Bengali and upper-class English societies throughout the 18th and 19th centuries which, according to Datta-Ray himself, has 'vanished'.^[9] Known as the Ingabanga, Datta-Ray defined his society as thus:

It meant “England-worshipping Bengali” for Rabindranath Tagore. Krishna Dutta and W. Andrew Robinson translated it as “Anglomaniacs”. It was always an outsider’s description, never used by anglicized Bengalis themselves. Born in the heartland of that world, my grandmother spoke always of “the set”.^[10]

Emerging from this milieu of intellectuals, barristers, radicals and civillians, Datta-Ray is a direct descendant of B.L.Gupta who was one of three Indians who in 1869 broke through the colour bar and became the first native (Indian) civillian in the Indian Civil Service. B.L. Gupta was educated at Downing College, Cambridge. Another ancestor is Jatindramohan Sengupta and his wife the English woman Nellie Sengupta who was a President of the Indian National Congress.^[11]

Datta-Ray's father was educated at the London School of Economics and Datta-Ray trained as a Chartered Accountant in England.

A Hindu — though his mother is of the Brahmo Samaj — Datta-Ray had a Catholic wedding in Australia to a Bengali woman who he met in Sydney. They have one son. Continuing the association with the UK, Datta-Ray sent his son to Haileybury and Imperial Service College in Hertfordshire. The son is a journalist, academic and consultant.^[12]

Datta-Ray's club memberships in not one, but two countries -- the UK and India -- go some way to explain the man. He chose to join what is regarded as the most exclusive club in India, the India International Centre^[13], (IIC) which also counts Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a member.^[14] The club pays no attention to wealth or social standing but selects members only on the basis of intellectual attainments and their ability to contribute to the building of modern India.^[15] When membership was opened after 12 years, Datta-Ray was one of 6,000 people to apply.^[16] Datta-Ray is also a member of the highly exclusive, men-only Travellers Club in London.^[17] Fellow members include Prince Charles and officers from the UK's elite intelligence services.^[18] The club is the setting for a John Le Carre novel.^[19] In his native Calcutta, Datta-Ray is a member of the Bengal Club and the Calcutta Club. He resigned from the National Liberal Club (London).

Monographs

It is testimony to Datta-Ray's innovative ideas and timeless style that despite having been published from China to the United States and Europe for over 50 years and having authored three monographs, another one is in press, and edited one, he was asked to contribute to First Proof: The Penguin Book of New Writing from India, Vol.I.^[20]

Currently in press is Datta-Ray's monograph charting a highly significant aspect of Indian foreign policy: India–Singapore relations. Completely overlooked by academics, Singapore was also ignored by successive Indian Prime Ministers. Yet, Singapore is today the conduit for the bulk of foreign investment into India.^[21] Based on unique access to key decision makers including Lee Kuan Yew, Datta-Ray, for the first time, illuminates an essential aspect of Indian foreign relations on which hinges not only India's renewal but also the future of India's major foreign policy innovation since Non-Alignment -- the 'Look East' policy.

His most recent monograph is Waiting For America^[22] about which the noted Oxford University historian Kanti Bajpai wrote:

[A] huge book ... Datta-Ray is one of India’s most respected journalists. An elegant writer with an eye for story-telling and a no-nonsense analytical pen, he traces the course of Indo-US ties from the time Indira Gandhi opened them in 1982. We in India lack contemporary history of the digestible, Datta-Ray kind. This book will sit well on our shelves. We would do well to ponder the implications of Datta-Ray’s analysis: Indo-US ties will be stilted as long as Americans see Pakistan as a strategic asset; India’s strongest asset is its economy, hobbled by its domestic politics.^[23]

Earlier Datta-Ray wrote Bihar Shows the Way, a caustic take on India.^[24] and edited Issues and Challenges in Asian Journalism^[25]

Smash And Grab: The Annexation of Sikkim^[26] has become a touchstone for historians of the Indian subcontinent and is based on his personal friendships with the King of Sikkim and Indian decision makers.^[27]

References