Amol Rajan has admitted he’s contemplating the idea of raising his children in India over Britain, branding the Asian country “extraordinarily exciting and energetic”.
In contrast, Mr Rajan has complained that Britain is no longer a place “where history is being made”.
Mr Rajan, 42, was born in Calcutta, India, but raised in England after moving with his family as a toddler.
He’s currently the face of the long-running quiz show University Challenge, and previously fronted BBC Radio 4’s Today programme as well as serving as BBC News’ media editor.
Amol Rajan is the face of the BBC’s University Challenge
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BBC
Mr Rajan has also been proud and vocal about his Indian roots. Just last year, he fronted his own travel show, Amol Rajan Goes to the Ganges.
The series followed Mr Rajan on the world-famous pilgrimage in India and whether or not faith could help him come to terms with the loss of his father.
With such an affinity with the country, Mr Rajan has stated that he may turn back to India to mold his children’s upbringings.
“I can’t tell you how much I love my country, by which I mean England, but I’m very worried about it,” he told Gyles Brandreth on the This Morning regular’s Rosebud podcast.
Amol Rajan has opened up about potentially raising his family in India
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BBC
Mr Rajan explained further: “I think we’ve got some big, big problems that need addressing, and one of the things is whether this is the best place for my four kids to grow up.”
As it stands, Mr Rajan does feel staying put in the UK is the best thing for his children, but he conceded he’s apprehensive.
“My answer is that it is. But I would say specifically that I’m not sure whether it’s still a place where history is being made,” he delved further.
“In the 1960s and ’70s, England was where history was being made. It had the extraordinary cultural effusion, the demographic dividend of the baby boomer years, relative peace.
Amol Rajan used to host BBC Radio 4’s Today programme
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PA
“I’ve spent a lot of time in Silicon Valley, I wouldn’t want to live there, spent a lot of time on the East Coast of America, I’ve chosen not to live there, spent a lot of time in continental Europe, Singapore – Poland’s going through an economic miracle.”
Turning his attention to the country where he was born, Mr Rajan praised: “But India is definitely somewhere where history is being made.
“India is a young country, 1.4billion people, it adds one million people to the workforce every single month.
“It’s extraordinarily exciting and energetic in a way that Britain, at the moment, doesn’t always feel.”
In regard to his children, Mr Rajan said he’d “like them to experience India and then make up their own mind”.
“I want it to be their decision,” he added. “My youngest is two, and when she’s a bit older and the long-haul flights are a bit less perilous, I would like to go to India frequently and invite my children to fall in love with the civilisation that’s in their blood.”
Mr Rajan wasn’t totally writing off England, however, branding it a “wonderful country” and “a peaceful country” that had “actually quite low crime”.
He’s currently married to UCL professor Dr Charlotte Faircloth, and the pair share four children.
Amol Rajan on University Challenge
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BBCTheir journey to parenthood has been far from plain sailing, with the pair being told their chances of expanding their family were slim.
Speaking previously on the Comfort Eating podcast, Mr Rajan opened up about the advice he received from doctors and the weighing up of whether to seek IVF or not.
“We were told it wouldn’t happen, that was the thing. There were years, and years, and years, and years, in which it was really tough and a struggle,” he candidly said, via The Mirror. “There was a lot of that going on whilst I was at the BBC.”
The 42-year-old has been working in the world of journalism for two decades now, first bursting onto screens on Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff in 2006.