Rai is a retired high school math and social justice teacher and a certified yoga instructor trained in India of the Sivananda lineage.

Rai is the first woman in the world of Indian ancestry, and the first Indo-Canadian to win an Olympic medal.

His stellar skills led him to score the only goal at the qualifying match enabling Canada's field hockey team entry to the Olympic games for the first time.

Just prior to the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, he was removed from the team by officials who favoured an all-white contingent.

Rai dedicated her 1984 Olympic success to her father who died from leukemia 3 months prior to her competing in the games.