Sunil Jain, Editor of Financial Express: Journalist per excellence – 17 May 2021

Shocked to hear about the death of Sunil Jain, journalist and commentator per excellence, and son of legendary TOI editor Girilal Jain. We were both from Delhi School of Economics,and worked together at Financial Express. While I left to start my own sites he eventually became the editor of the paper.

Sunil was a hands-on writer and never the arm-chair ridden, whiskey laden, PMO centred, contact chasing editor who you often find loitering around in Lutyens' plush watering holes or in the Central Hall of Parliament. He wrote frequently and he lead his team by example. A thorough professional, he was a sharp observer of social and economic trends. His interests were wide — from coal, to telecom to oil & gas and banking, he also took a keen interest in politics, the bureaucracy and the tragedy that COVID had unleashed.

Sunil like his father, was more of a commentator than an editor - he would rather write than manage a large countrywide network of journalists - and while some editors would ramble on in their writings, Sunil always had a piece of hard and accurate data embedded in his work to drive home his point. He would go to great lengths to marshall his thoughts by laboriously collecting the facts: first to highlight an issue in sharp relief in his crisp no-nonsense style and then to deploy more of the data either to demolish an argument or build on it. That was his D’School rigour combined with solid training as an economic journalist: he would stop press until the facts were right. I shall miss his writings he whstsapped me daily , and which I commented on frequently , even if I sometimes vehemently disagreed with them When we were young we had a few common dreams: at one point we wanted to start a TV programme together, even a business magazine. Between the two, Sunil was the conscience keeper and I was the rule breaker ever so often, soon enough, we went our separate ways.

One of the most stressful jobs in the country is that of an editor of a national newspaper, for it indeed is a cut throat business, and it must have taken a toll on him. Covid therefore found an easy victim in him. Also, God has a way of snatching away people who are still young and at their prime. Perhaps he wants them nearer him sooner than the rest of us. May his family (his father-in-law died earlier) have the strength to bear this irreparable loss. Santanu Saikia, Editor