680NEWS

My grandfather drew me into journalism. In the late-1940s, he moved from Goa, India to the “big” city of Bombay (now known as Mumbai), in search of work, but had limited schooling. So, he educated himself by reading the daily newspaper. He taught me to pay attention to the world I live in -- the people, history, and culture that shape its landscape.

I’ve always been a writer and news junkie, contributing stories to the Varsity, the widely-circulated University of Toronto newspaper, followed by the Ryersonian – Ryerson University’s student-run publication. I graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in political science from UofT and went on to pursue a post-graduate degree in journalism from Ryerson…phew, six years of school and I was done!

While at 680News, I have covered several local, national and international stories for the Web, including the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the 2007 Ontario provincial election, the 2008 U.S. presidential primary season and numerous winter storms. I also wrote feature stories on the 2007 TD-Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival, as well as other stories on travel and the arts. I also have an online arts column on 680News, called Not So Abstract, which was launched in April 2008.

Before joining 680News, I did a brief editorial stint at the CBC, wrote for WeddingBells (U.S.) magazine and was a freelance feature writer for Metro newspaper. I still do the latter on occasion.

I am a huge classic rock music fan, with dabbles in Western swing, early jazz and rock-pop-folk. My favourite reads are any books on musicians and Elizabethan-era history, nytimes.com, nowtoronto.com, pitchforkmedia.com and outpostmagazine.com, to name a few. I’ve travelled to several countries in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Asia, but my favourite city so far is New York City – I wrote about my NYC adventures for 680News’ travel section.