Many of the local senior officials were of the opinion that ‘PD’ was over-qualified for the State, which had then recently merged with India. “It was a period of flux, transition, uncertainty, political consolidation, a period of learning,” he says.

“It was also a period which saw massive development happening in the State. It was a critical juncture. I was in the thick of it all.”

While he was working with the Sikkim Flour Mills, he was also given charge of the Sikkim Milk Union for two years. During this time, he went to the villages and saw how milk was a huge cash generator and a means of livelihood for rural people.

“Remarkably, even today we continue to have the mixed farming system. At least I have come a long way in understanding the nuances of the way mountain life is lived,” he says.

Talking about sustainability in the State, he says that today 75 per cent of the food is imported from outside the State. So, if National Highway 31A were to close down even for a week, the State would be in big trouble. “Essentially, when we talk about sustainability, we really need to see how we can grow more of our own food, increase the productivity of our own cash crops.”

But those six years in the government made him realise the inability of a Government job to sustain life. That is when he went off to the US as he did not want to end up as “one of those babus.” After staying in the US for a while, he returned to Sikkim.

“Business was something I needed to do to look after my family. I was not passionate about it. Today, I am in a position where I can play out whatever was scripted in me a long time ago. I am blessed in that sense, it’s worked out well for me,” he says.

Having got his political inclinations from his father, a civil servant whom he calls his encyclopaedia and historian, he has also instilled in his children the need to be global citizens.
The job on hand

Rai realises that one needs economic strength to play a role in politics and it is a fine balancing act. He also realises his challenges in Parliament in contributing to his primary constituency, Sikkim.

“A parliamentarian is given a tool box — questions, bills, zero hour, I have to judiciously use these plus there is networking — direct communication with the central ministers.”

His questions have huge import: why shouldn’t all the mountain States be evaluated differently, both in terms of the development efforts needed and socio-economic indicators, he quips.

But he is confident that five years is a sufficiently long time to get things done. He considers IIM and IIT to be his greatest support systems. “I am representing the IITs and IIMs, I am their MP. I have my batchmates in very good positions and you will see a sea change now.

“Capability building, capacity building, things like these will take centre stage now. On the one hand, we have to stop youngsters from taking to drugs and things like that, and on the other, we have to improve the lot of the people in the State. We have to get it done creatively and innovatively,” he says.

Prof Raghuram says, “I have invited him to come to the institution and talk to students and take courses here. It would be great to collaborate with him in our public management and policy programme.”

Rai is not surprised when you ask him why most IIT-ians and IIM-ites do not take up politics. “Probably, they didn’t have the luxury of making a second decision. At least I had the choice,” he signs off.