Rishi Sunak, Britain’s latest prime minister with roots in India. As he said in a 2015 interview: “British Indian is what I tick on the census; we have a category for it. I am thoroughly British; this is my home and my country, but my religious and cultural heritage is Indian, and my wife is Indian.”
His parents were born and brought up in Kenya and Tanzania. And his grandparents migrated to East Africa. A media report says they were Punjabi Hindus.
The new British PM carries his Hindu heritage, marked by the visible ‘mauli’, the red thread on his right wrist. The literal meaning of ‘mauli’ in Sanskrit is crown. It is supposed to bring good luck and good health. It is tied by a priest and is not supposed to be removed till it is worn out, then replaced with a new one.
Sunak is a man of good fortune, the wealthiest prime minister, who married Akshata Murty, the daughter of an Indian billionaire, NR Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys. Her shares in her father’s company make her one of the wealthiest women in the UK. The couple has a combined wealth of £730 million.
Promod Puri.com 