Vivacious Monita Rajpal _ veteran CNN International anchor and correspondent _ oozes self-confidence and wit both on duty and off. The versatile journalist, who has covered everything from politics to luxury brands, has travelled the globe interviewing royalty, political and religious leaders and many more people besides in her 12 years with the American network.
Her amiable demeanour makes it easy to chit-chat about what it takes to survive in one of the most prominent news cable networks in the world. An ethnic Indian, Rajpal was born in Hong Kong and spent much of her childhood there before moving to Toronto, Canada, where she launched her television career.
Before returning to Hong Kong late last year, Rajpal was based in London, where she co-hosted CNN's World One. On top of English, she speaks conversational Cantonese, French and Punjabi.
As we start the interview, one thing becomes pretty obvious: years of anchoring has taught her to get to the point. She comes across as genuinely passionate about her work, speaking animatedly about anchoring prime-time news shows, interviewing some of the most prominent names internationally in politics, business, arts and fashion, and reporting from places as diverse as Asia, Europe and Latin America.
Rajpal speaks with a heightened sense of excitement about her latest shows _ CNN NewsCenter and Talk Asia _ which were launched early this year.
CNN NewsCenter offers a speedy and captivating review of all the major global headlines as they unfold, in a fresh and informative manner, she said. On this show, Rajpal works closely with a team from London.
"The time NewsCenter airs is an interesting one," she notes. "It is evening in Asia, lunchtime in Europe, afternoon in the Middle East and Africa, and they're just waking up on the east coast in North America.
"So it's breakfast, lunch or dinner somewhere in the world. Now that poses an opportunity and challenge to give people the news in a way that is fresh for them no matter where they are in the world, whether they are waking up or having lunch."
As for CNN's Talk Asia, the network's weekly flagship 30-minute programme with in-depth one-on-ones with global figures from the arts, politics, sports and business, she reflected that the experience had been fantastic, so far. Unlike working in a news programme, where she has to constantly update herself on what is happening, Talk Asia focuses on one person for an entire half-hour, so a lot more research has to be done to make the conversation as memorable as possible. Here she works with a team to come up with the most probing and insightful questions.
"When I am researching someone, for example actress Hilary Swank, I probe into her past to find interesting nuggets of information from her upbringing, the kinds of movie roles she chooses, how she prepares, and how much she has learned from the experiences of the people she works with. While researching her past, I found that she had gone to India to work with underprivileged kids. So I took it from there.
"Asking questions that haven't been asked are very important, and that also poses a challenge for me because these are people that have been interviewed a number of times.
"The direction the interview takes comes down to the conversation you're having with the person and the type of connection you have with them. The kind of energy you develop while you're sitting there is important, it's always in the back of your head that their experience with you is fun and interesting."
Her favourite types of people to interview are the ones who create and build, such as architects and photographers, whom she admires for their artistry and passion to bring beauty into society.
Rajpal admits she doesn't find herself interesting enough to be interviewed, saying: "I don't consider myself celebrity material. I am just plain Monita." Being on CNN has nevertheless made her a familiar face wherever she goes, and she does get stopped and asked for autographs. The international exposure has meant she is often asked: "You look familiar, are you friends with my sister?"
Even after two decades of being a journalist, she seems as smitten by the job as if she started yesterday.
"It's surreal when you're reporting on issues that resonate throughout the world. It's surreal that at one moment you're talking to a world leader and the next moment you're covering a breaking story in another part of the world. Just recently I saw myself interviewing in Macau in the morning and in the evening I ended my day interviewing the president of Mexico. It is both an honour and a responsibility."
Experience has helped her avert blunders in her reporting. Still, Rajpal says it is important to know that mistakes can be made, so it is important to be honest about it because in this day and age viewers are extremely intelligent and perceptive.
On television you're bound to stumble, so don't be too hard on yourself, she advises anyone who hopes to follow in her footsteps. Rajpal recalls how nervous and restless she felt on the day she debuted as an anchor on Toronto television.
"It was a Sunday afternoon, my entire family, friends and bosses, everyone was watching," she reflects with amusement.
"I could hear my own heart thumping because this was my moment, I had been given an opportunity and I had to deliver.
"When I first stumbled over a word, I quickly got it out of the way and moved on. There was an anchor that I absolutely adored in Toronto who had once told me that it's not the mistake you make but how you recover from it that is of consequence. That makes the difference because we're all humans and actually if you are going to be natural on air, you're bound to stumble, so it's important that you quickly recover from it."
To keep her standards high, Rajpal says it is crucial to keep her work interesting. To do that she has to communicate closely with her superiors on issues she personally enjoys covering.
Being a well-rounded correspondent, anchor and show host means reading and keeping up to date on what is transpiring around the world. On a personal front, Rajpal credits the confidence she has today to the way her parents brought her up.
"My mother is a strong individual, if I could be half of the woman she is, I would be doing OK. She always taught me and my brother to be independent, while my father taught us to be honest and work extremely hard.
"My mother, who once worked as an executive in an electronics firm, grew up in Shanghai where my grandfather moved to from Punjab when he was 16 years old. There is a work ethic that has been passed on to me. Nothing is really handed down to you, so work extremely hard, and that is what I continue to do."
Rajpal says that while it was her uncle who had worked at Radio Television Hong Kong's English service, her real exposure to news came from her mother, who had the radio on the entire day to listen to the latest news.
When asked if her parents had ever pressured her into settling down like other Indian parents, Rajpal concludes matter-of-factly: "No, because they know I have a challenging career and what matters is that I am happy."
