Rabindra Seth, the doyen of travel writers and a consultant to the hospitality industry, died in New Delhi on Tuesday after suffering a heart attack.
He was 81 and is survived by daughter Anuradha and son Atul. Seth's wife had pre-deceased him.
The last rites will be performed at the Lodhi Road Electric Crematorium at 11.30 am on Wednesday.
Beginning his career with All India Radio, Seth spent more than two decades with the organisation, rising from a reporter to a defence and parliamentary correspondent, as he disseminated the momentous events leading to Independence and during the Nehru era.
In between, during 1962-63, he was seconded to the defence ministry to serve as the public relations officer (PRO) of the Indian peacekeeping mission in the Congo in the rank of a major. For this, he was awarded the UN Medal For Service In The Cause Of Peace.
In 1966, Seth was again invited by the defence ministry to be PRO (Army) for a three-year tenure, after which he joined the Press Institute of India, where he researched and taught journalism for four years.
In 1972, he joined the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) to direct its public relations. He retired from this premier public sector undertaking as a vice president in 1983, when his media background had already helped in shaping him as a travel writer.
{{/usCountry}}In 1972, he joined the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) to direct its public relations. He retired from this premier public sector undertaking as a vice president in 1983, when his media background had already helped in shaping him as a travel writer.
{{/usCountry}}Seth had been a consultant to hotel chains like the Taj group and the ITC-Welcomgroup and was also associated as an editor with leading travel trade publications.
His column "Capital View" had been appearing in the Indian Express group's Express Hospitality supplement since its inception 10 years ago.
Seth also contributed to other travel journals and mainstream newspapers and magazines. His writings on tourism and aviation were recently published in two volumes titled "Tourism in India".