Barry Bearak, who joined The New York Times as a reporter on its Metropolitan desk in March 1997, became a co-bureau chief of The Times's New Delhi bureau in August 1998.

Before coming to The Times, he had been a roving national correspondent for the Los Angeles Times since 1982. From 1976 to 1982, he was a general assignment reporter for The Miami Herald.

Born on Aug. 31, 1949, in Chicago, Mr. Bearak received a B.A. in political science from Knox College in Galesburg, IL, in 1971. He received an M.S. in journalism from the University of Illinois in 1974.

He is married to Celia Dugger, who is also a co-bureau chief in New Delhi. They have two children.