Chronicler of Bahrain
There could hardly be anyone more competent to chronicle the recent history of Bahrain than Soman Baby, who has watched the kingdom evolve into its modern status. With his ringside view of the development of Bahrain as a journalist for over three decades, Soman is acknowledged for his social commitment as much as for breaking news. Soman Baby hails from Karthikapally in Kerala's Alappuzha district.
Soman's arrival in Manama, Bahrain, could not have been better timed: armed with an MA in English language and literature from St Thomas College, Thrissur, Kerala, and five years of experience with one of India's better-known media mastheads, the Malayala Manorama group, Soman moved to Bahrain in April 1978, joining Gulf Daily News (GDN), the country's first English language daily which was launched just a month before.
Start of a Long Innings
That was the beginning of an association that would span over three decades, during which time Soman moved from the level of a sub-editor, to that of a reporter and moving up the hierarchy to the level of Associate Editor.
After ending that long innings with GDN in June 2009, Soman joined Bahrain Telegraph, an international magazine, as its Editor-in-Chief.
Soman Baby is currently the Chairman of Veritas Public Relations and Managing Director of Talia Global Solutions (TGS), both based in Bahrain. He was formerly the Chief Editor of Daily Tribune, an English daily which was earlier called Bahrain Tribune. The broadsheet Bahrain Tribune was then converted into the tabloid Daily Tribune, and was launched on September 12, 2010.
Soman is one of the Directors of The New Horizon School. He is also a founding member of the Bahrain - India Society.
During his long stint in the Bahraini media scene, many of Soman's interventions have been popular in Bahraini social circles: in 2007, his articles on the problems faced by expatriate workers, particularly Indians, prompted the then government to consult him on this crucial matter.
After a special decree by His Majesty the King in 2007, on the establishment of LMRA (Labour Market Regulatory Authority), Soman was asked by the LMRA to prepare a white paper on the impact of labour market reforms on Indian workers. His paper was accepted and many of his suggestions and recommendations were implemented.
Scribe with Social Commitment
Over the years, Soman has been recognised and respected as the face of the Indian community in Bahrain. Time and again he has been lending his shoulder to support causes dear to the Indian community.
His close interactions with H H the late Amir Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa and his continuing good offices with His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, and the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa are a matter of pride for the Indian community.
Soman's deep involvement with the expatriate community is reflected in the fact that he served twice as the Global Chairman of World Malayalee Council (WMC). He was first elected to this position at the global conference held in Singapore in August 2008 and was re-elected for a second two-year term in Doha in August 2010. During his tenure as Global Chairman of WMC from 2008 to 2012, Soman initiated a project called "Altius", (an organisation networking Keralites around the world,) under which thousands of college students in Kerala were trained, and are still being trained, to become "Globally Competent and Socially Committed" leaders of the future. His social commitment has also been acknowledged with several awards, including the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman in the year 2009, the highest honour conferred on overseas Indians by the government of India.
Doctorate
Soman was presented with an Honorary Doctorate (Doctor in Divinity) by the Emmanuel Bible College, Kota, Rajastan.
Glittering Career
During his long and creditable career at GDN, Soman has had the opportunity to cover several international conferences and Gulf Cooperation Council Summits (Meetings of the Heads of States of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman), besides covering the visits of international leaders to Bahrain.
His first and most memorable interview was with the late Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at her office in South Block in 1981. Soman Baby says “This was during my visit to Delhi as part of the official delegation accompanying the then ruler of Bahrain, the late Amir H H Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, who made his first state visit to India in April that year. This was a turning point in my journalistic career, and gave me an opportunity to have a close interaction with Bahrain's ruler, an association which I maintained until his death in March 1999”. Other leaders he has interviewed include South Africa's Nelson Mandela, former Indian President Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Ministers Dr Manmohan Singh and P V Narasimha Rao, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammed, former UN Secretaries General Baan Ki Moon, Kofi Annan and Javier Perez de Cuellar, Opposition Leader L K Advani, Prince Edward of Britain, Nobel Prize winner Professor Mohammed Yunus of Bangladesh, and a number of GCC leaders as well as many international leaders who have visited Bahrain.
Dear Dad and Husband
Soman’s better half, Sherley, who had worked for Bahrain's oil industry for more than 20 years, is presently a housewife.
The couple has two daughters, Nisha and Susha. After a Master’s in communication from the US, Nisha works with Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF), and her husband, Abraham Mathew (Aby), is Director at Talia Global Solutions. The couple are blessed with a son Nathan, who turned one on November 16, 2017. Susha, who has a Master’s in Broadcasting from London, was formerly with CNN IBN, Delhi and is currently in Doha. Her husband Solomon Kuriakose is a Recruitment Manager with Qatar Airways.
Of all his varied experiences, Soman keeps two of them close to his heart. The first was when His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa called him and daughter Nisha to his palace in Bahrain to congratulate her for carrying the Bahrain flag at the Parade of Nations at her university in Chicago. On that occasion, His Majesty encouraged him to write a book, which led to Soman's work, 'Shukran Bahrain'.
The second occasion was when Soman, as the Chairman of Co-ordination Committee of Indian Associations (CCIA) in 1997 led a campaign through newspapers for two little girls from Kerala, Sajitha and Sanitha, who became orphans in Bahrain when their parents and only brother died in a fire. The effort raised Rs 3.5 million, and the children now live happily with their grandparents in Kerala.
As and when Soman, the second son of late S Baby (a businessman) and late Achamma Baby, sits down to chronicle his own life, there would be plenty more stories that pull at your heart strings.
Dr. Mohan Kumar (Ex Ambassador of India to Bahrain) Testimony on Soman Baby