Abel's Camera Focus Shifts to Human Side of Arabian Journalism

Interviewing the Shaikh of Ras Al Khaimah. Click to view Interview with famous Malayalama writer M.Mukundan.

Another interesting story was that of Indian students in Makkah, who have to travel 150 kms to attend school in the Jeddah International School. "Following the Gulf Round Up report, an action committee has been formed to campaign for a separate Indian school in Makkah," he said. Even though promotional stories are the norm in Gulf media, Abel is trying to add more human interest stories in Gulf Round Up. He handles everything related to the Gulf Round programme from driving to the story location to handling camera and light, scripting, direction and anchoring.

Unlike the daily Gulf News propgramme which depends on commercial franchisees, Abel travels extensively in the Gulf region to get first hand information about the issues to be covered. On one occasion he traveled to Muscat to discuss the problem facing a group of Keralite workers from Salalah who were striking in front of the Indian embassy. "In a detailed discussion, Asianet Round Up covered the problem from various angles interviewing the Indain Ambassador Talmiz Ahmed, the affected workers and representatives of social organizations. Another notable item which made an impact was the feature on fund raising by Kerala politicians (of all parties) in the Gulf region. The programme has also exposed the hollowness of tall promises made by some prominent Kerala politicians to Gulf Malayalis. The programme has been able to change the general impression about Gulf Malayalis by showing some of the real problems facing them. Gulf Round up shows the raw life of an average Gulf Keralite. "Normally it is difficult to shoot without official permission. On one occasion while covering labour problems of Euro Emirates Company, Dubai police captured his camera and cassettes. There is work pressure and other problems for the smooth functioning of a Gulf based TV journalist. Abel's journalism career dates back to student politics and college days. In 1996-97, he was the college magazine editor of Shri Shankara College. "Piyatha" edited by Abel, a second year degree student, was one of the notable college magazines of Mahatma Gandhi University colleges

. A graduate from the Shri Shankara College of Kalady, Abel studied journalism from the Bavans College of Mass Communication (Bharatheeya Vidhya Bhavan) Kochi. He attended the one year Diploma in Journalism and Communications (DIJAM) organized by Deepika Institute of Journalism. His cover story "Vilkanundu Sarvakalashala" (University for Sale) published by Malayalam, a fortnightly Malayalam publication from the Indian Express group, thoroughly exposed rampant corruption in Mahatma Gandhi University Kottayam. From sixth standard onwards he was a member of Deepika Children's League. Hailing from Malayattor, Biju is son of a businessman. At the young age of 28, he travels to all the GCC countries except Saudi Arabia and visited Nepal and Iran. Before joining Asianet, he directed and scripted for Vipani (Market) a 30 episode programme for Doordarshan. The programme was produced by Hiphen communications Kochi. He had a special link to Gulf Malayali life as his brother and four sisters are settled in Kuwait. "Working environment in the Dubai media city is encouraging as I can interact with many leading journalists from India and abroad. Meeting experts and celebrity journalists is a source of inspiration," says Abel, son of Jacob Palanken and Elsy Jacob.