Joel Rai : The Gorkha Journalist
Born in Darjeeling and having studied up to graduation at St Joseph’s School and College in Darjeeling, Joel Rai decided to move to New Delhi for further studies. He completed his MA in English from Jawaharlal Nehru University there and then pursued a course in journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. He graduated in journalism at the top of the class and was awarded the Hindu Prize. Within two weeks of graduation, he was invited by Pakistan-based The News to join their bureau as a foreign correspondent in Delhi. Joel thus began his career in journalism under challenging circumstances. During his short stint with the paper, he covered the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the general elections of 1991 and later the demolition of the Babri Masjid.Soon after, he joined the Economic Times in Delhi and was in charge of several of the sections in the paper. There he regularly wrote about politics, social issues, sports,art and literature. Among his most important stories for the paper was when he exposed the scandal in the selection of junior India teams by the Indian Golf Union. Three years later, he joined The Financial Express as Assistant Features Editor and again wrote on the same topics. He regularly interacted and interviewed politicians, industry leaders, authors and social figures.
In 1997, Joel joined India Today magazine as copy editor. He decided to change course and gave up active reporting to take on editorial assignments. In India Today, Joel recalls how when the magazine broke the story on the Jain Commission Report, which eventually led to the resignation of the Prime Minister IK Gujral, the office was cleared of normal staff because the story was top secret. Only three people worked on the story: Editor Prabhu Chawla, then Deputy Editor Swapan Dasgupta and Copy Editor Joel Rai. In 2000, he was offered a job at the Straits Times in Singapore and he planned to leave India Today. But the magazine, in recognition of his work and responsibilities there, persuaded him not to leave India for Singapore and doubled his salary in order to retain him. During his stint at India Today, he earned the respect of the print journalism fraternity for heading a team that set new standards in editing.
He joined the Indian Express five years later, and as Senior Editor there, he was in charge of various important sections of the daily paper. He took over and changed the Sunday issue, starting new pages and revamping others. He was also the editor for the paper’s North America Edition. It was on his initiative that the paper recently covered the Gorkhaland agitation, particularly a two-page spread that appeared on June 15. He left The Indian Express on July 31, and has gone back to the India Today Group as Deputy Editor and will lead a team that will launch a new magazine from the group.
Joel Rai is a bachelor who has various interests in art and photography, literature and sports. In 2004, Joel was among the Gorkhas felicitated by the Sikkim Government at the Sikkim Samman Samilani for their achievements in different fields. Joel is a member of the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh and has been talking about and following the events related to a separate state for Indian Gorkhas with keen interest.
Contact:
Joel Rai
Deputy Editor,
F-26, Inner Circle, New Delhi 110001, India
Tel: 011-23315801
Email: JoelR@itgnet.com
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