Dhiraj Rai was born in July 27, 1974 in Kathmandu. His father's name is Tanka Bahadur Rai and his mother is Shanti Rai. He has no siblings. He spent his childhood in Dharan and Kathmandu. In his early days, he used to be very mischievous and always showed a keen interest on learning new things. His education was his first priority and but he used to give importance to his music as well. He has completed his Diploma in Arts from Tri-Chandra College and has done overseers from Engineering College.
INTEREST IN MUSIC AND ENTRY INTO THE NEPALI MUSIC INDUSTRY
He simply used to love music. He was brought up in a Newari environment. He informs that he used to participate in Newari cultural programs. He loved playing deusi bhailo with his friends. When in school, he used to actively participate in school functions. Because of all this, Dhiraj's interest and love for music was not a subject of objection in the family.
Dhiraj informs that during 1979, Mithun Chakraworty was a renown actor in Bollywood and Michael Jackson songs were popular worldwide. He was so much influenced by these artists that he decided to form a band. Along with his friends he set up a band 'The Move'. It was then that they released their song "Luki Luki Akha Timi Na Judhau Tesari"which was very well received. After this he decided to go solo. According to him, the reason in doing so was not because he had a dispute with the band members. He just wanted it that way! Till date, he has already taken out nine albums and many of his songs have been well received by the listeners. He shares, "Fifteen years has already passed by since my involvement in the Music Industry and it seems just like yesterday. During this time, what I have learnt is, it is difficult to gain fame and popularity and once you achieve the status, it is even more difficult to keep up with that!"
JOURNEY AS A WRITER AND A DOCUMENTARY MAKER
He is grateful that Gurukul initially gave him an opportunity to do a solo program at their venue. At this show, his audiences were quite different from the regular ones. Here, the spectators were not the youngsters but the intellectuals from various fields. In fact, performing for that particular crowd was a new experience for him. He was quite nervous and at the same time exicited about the whole idea. He states that those people were the ones who had influenced him to write a book. "Singing a song and writing a book are completely different aspects. Pop songs are appreciated by many and still when you ask music lovers what it means in the real sense, there are very people who have an answer to that. The meaning of pop can be justified by the pop singer himself and that is the reason I decided to write about the topic. The result of which are my two books regarding the topic and they are 'Pop Ma Biteko Pandra Barsha' and 'Pop Sangeet K Ho'.
His first documentary is 'Om Bikram'. Rai says, "So far, I am getting positive responses from 'Om Bikram'. I was inspired on making it after I worked in the documentary 'Ithihas Jitney Haru Ka Lagi'. There are many people without whom pop music would not have come to being in the first place. Their effort should not be forgotten and they should not be forgotten and that is the main reason why I thought of making 'Om Bikram'. And this is just the beginning! And every time I come up with a documentary, the subject shall still revolve around pop music.This documentary will be premiered in Hong Kong, Dubai and Australia soon.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
Besides being a singer, writer and a documentary maker, Dhiraj has also a certified Overseer. At present, he is working for Kathmandu Metropolitian City. Besides that he teaches English in Kathmandu Language Institute, is a music teacher at Montessori School and time and again he writes about various issues on different newspapers.
MARRIAGE
Rai opines that getting attracted to the opposite sex is not a big deal. But getting attracted and getting married are two different issues. He shares, "In my early days, life was not that easy as it is now. And that must be the reason why I was never interested in the subject but was more focused on my career. I always believed that if one has a good future...a career, then everything falls into place later." Three years back, he met his wife Swikriti while in a program at Hetauda. They started seeing each other for a period of six months. After which they decided to get married.