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June 2, 2003 

Inspiration for the day

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  P.V.VIVEKANAND: NOTED JOURNALIST AND MALAYALIS' BENEFACTOR IN THE MIDDLE EAST
P.V.Vivekanand, Editor, Gulf Times, Sharjah, UAE

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The young man who left the moorings of Ottappalam in search of a job in civil war-torn Beirut later became an influential journalist in Jordan who could intercede on behalf of the belaboured Malayali contingent fleeing from Iraq during Gulf War 1.  P.V.Vivekanand could then do what even Ministers from India could not secure – open the border of Jordan to let in refugees from Iraq.

In a self-effacing manner, he considers his intervention just a small help.  But the man of such influence started his career as a proofreader in Jordan Times.  However, within 4 months he had progressed to the features page and by the 7th month to the international page and by the end of the year, to the front page itself.  Later he was to become the senior editor of the paper.

He wrote for news agencies like UNI and Reuters and for American and British dailies as well.  He was responsible for modernising the English wing of the official Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Seeing his influence in helping the refugees at the border, an Indian paper wrote: “If you want to get anything done in Jordan, you shouldn’t go to the Indian Embassy, but to Vivekanand.”

However, considering the education of his children, Vivekand had to leave Jordan in 1997.  From 1998, he is the editor of Gulf Times, based in Sharjah, UAE.  His 5 year stint as the editor is itself an achievement considering the fact that 6 editors had come and gone during the 2 years before his appointment.

Gujarati advocate Chitra is his wife.  Anoop and Vismaya, their children.  While reporting the Gulf War 1, he learned with amazement the imminent birth of his daughter.  And so the choice of name, Vismaya.

 

 

Courtesy: Malayala Manorama, April 20, 2003.

Contributed by: Administrator

 

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