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Journalism And More
My Journalistic career spans for almost three decades. I have served as an editor for over a decade and have also turned into an educator, focusing on media. I founded Gujarat’s first and largest literature festival - the
I launched and headed the English daily DNA in Ahmedabad for over a decade and played a key role in DNA Mumbai as its Senior Editor. Besides launching the DNA edition in Surat, I also launched DNA Money editions in Indore and Ahmedabad and played a key role in the launch of DB Post in Bhopal.
Besides writing and editing, I have mastered the art of running newspaper operations, building teams, training journalists, designing and launching newspapers, and more. I have written thousands of special stories and written and edited tens of thousands of other news articles and stories.
Over the years, I have written a large number of edits, comments, and columns for multiple publications. I started my journalistic career with the Times of India, Ahmedabad, as a news correspondent and worked there for a decade in multiple positions.
While building multiple teams, I realized the need for training finer journalists and communicators to help Indian journalistic and other content reach a global audience. This realization led me to venture into media education. Since then, I have designed diploma, bachelor's, and master's level syllabi for multiple universities and institutes. I am currently serving as the Director of flagship professional education initiative - Rajendra Prasad Institute of Communication and Management. I also head Bhavan’s oldest journalism and management institute in Ahmedabad - HB Institute of Communication and Management and am an adjunct professor at Rashtriya Raksha Shakti University.
I also coordinated the writing of the self-learning course material for Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University’s Masters in Journalism syllabi. I founded and headed the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Auro University, Surat. Prior to that, I helped Vadodara-based Team Lease Skills University (TLSU) start its journalism and communication training initiative and, with the support of the Dainik Bhaskar group, launched my own media school, Dew Media School.
Before taking up the assignment of an editor, I also worked as Bureau Chief of Gujarat Samachar’s English news website and it’s newspaper venture Indian Post, in 2003. This was followed by a stint as State Bureau Chief of the newly launched Divya Bhaskar, handling coordination and planning of stories from across the state. I headed and launched the Plus supplement for Gujarat Samachar and also oversaw the redesign and relaunch of multiple editions of Sandesh as its Editorial Coordinator.
Experience in
Digital Media
Gujarat Samachar and DNA Ahmedabad
Appearance on
News TV
India Today TV, Republic TV, BBC, and Rajya Sabha TV
Experience in
DNA Mumbai, DNA Money, Dainik Bhaskar Group, Divya Bhaskar, The Times of India, Jansatta and Gram Sahyogi
I served as the Resident Editor for DNA Ahmedabad from September 2007 to May 2017. During this time, I looked after editorial operations across the state, oversaw the paper’s launch, recruited and built a team, and re-launched the paper on a bigger canvas – 24 pages – in October 2014. I built multiple teams, specialized in recruitment, training, and launching of editions, and conceived multiple product innovations for the newspaper, including specially designed and planned editions.
As the Senior Editor in Mumbai from March to September 2007, I was part of the DNA team right from its launch in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. In Mumbai, I took charge of operations of the news sections - Front Page, India, and the World sections, and bureaus in India and abroad.
I served as the Executive Editor for DNA Money in Indore (January 2006) and Ahmedabad (August 2006). After its launch in Mumbai, the first expansion of DNA happened as DNA Money editions for Indore and Ahmedabad. I was entrusted with both the launches in January 2006 and August 2006 respectively from Indore and Ahmedabad. It was the success of DNA Money in Ahmedabad that was followed by the launch of DNA – the first expansion of DNA outside Mumbai.
I worked as the In-charge Editor for DB Post in Bhopal in March 2016. I worked on the launch of Bhaskar Group’s English daily published from Bhopal – DB Post in May 2016. In a matter of days, I set up the team and the paper.
I joined Divya Bhaskar in January 2005 as its State Bureau Chief, overseeing the vast network of bureaus across the state and coordinating special stories for the paper.
As the Editorial Coordinator of Sandesh in Ahmedabad from March to December 2004, I looked after the complete operations of the multi-edition Gujarati newspaper and its four major editions at Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, and Bhavnagar. I worked on the design and layout of the paper, started two new weekly supplements, and re-launched the business section of the paper, partnering with CNBC TV18.
As the Bureau Chief of Indian Post in Ahmedabad from May 2003 to March 2004, I recruited, built, and headed a team for re-launching The Indian Post for The Gujarat Samachar group. I also headed Gujarat Samachar ‘Plus,’ a daily news and features supplement for Gujarat’s largest and oldest Gujarati daily, Gujarat Samachar, in June 2003.
I served as the Principal Correspondent at The Times of India in Ahmedabad from November 1995 to May 2003.
I established myself in reporting areas like education, environment, legal affairs, political parties, science and technology, disasters, elections, and more. \
I initiated environmental reporting for the paper, which soon led other publications to introduce environment reporting in their publications.
I led several series and campaigns for the protection of wildlife in Gujarat’s National Parks and Wildlife reserves like the Marine National Park, the Gir Forests, and the Little Rann of Kutch.
As a Legal Correspondent, I covered the Gujarat High Court for many years. I traveled extensively throughout the state for political, human rights, and investigative stories.
I handled special assignments for detailed coverage and forecasting trends during several State Assembly and General elections.
I wrote a weekly environmental column ‘The Green Canopy’ and ‘Wild Wild World,’ a weekly column on nature and eco-tourism for Ahmedabad Times and Vadodara Times.
I reported the terrorist attack on Akshardham Temple at Gandhinagar in 2002, the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat in 2002, the Kutch Earthquake in 2001, and cyclones in the late ’90s.
Between 1985 and 1995, I worked in the bureaus of several newspapers in Rajkot – The Times of India, Gujarat Samachar, Jansatta, and Gram Sahyogi.
I launched and ran the English news website for the Gujarat Samachar group in 2003, which was a very early step into digital media. I also set up the local news website of DNA in Ahmedabad and have written for several digital news entities.
I have been invited by India Today TV, Republic TV, BBC, and Rajya Sabha TV on contract as a political analyst for election coverage. I have also been invited to TV debates by a large number of local TV channels.