Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — “The GGI Talent Lab communication upskilling workshop was just like a thunderbolt which struck the hidden pearl inside us and paved the way for it to burst out. The 9-hour session was the first and best experience in my life which I'll treasure throughout my life,” said Aswathy Udayan from Jabal Farasan International School, Rabigh. She was one among the 252 most talented senior grade students, screened and chosen from among over 10,000 students for the workshop by their mentors from 10 international schools in the western region of Saudi Arabia.

Indian Consul General Mohammed Noor Rahman Sheikh, who was the chief guest, urged the participants to retain the skills that they have acquired and build their career on that vibrant platform.

Eminent Saudi media figure Khaled Almaeena and several other dignitaries and life coaches instilled huge amount of inspiration while unveiling a clear-cut road map for them to build a brilliant future.

“My excitement levels were hitting the roof for taking part in such an amazingly organized and informative workshop and what I came to hear from some of the great speakers, writers and mentors were equally surreal and exciting,” said Sundus Masood, another student. “Students who were present there, including myself, got certain clarity of mind and it opened up a lot of new possibilities for me, to consider going through, before I step out into the world to explore, learn and achieve,” Sundus added.

“We really appreciate the effort and the fact that all this was done free of cost is just so amazing. The visit to the TV studio was such a great initiative and it was magical going into it and seeing how TV productions are made,” said Sariya Khan, another student.

The students were upbeat on grabbing the main take away of the event, which was expanding their knowledge horizon; boosting their creativity; augmenting their journalistic talent; enhancing their writing and communication skills; and spurring their wariness in using social media through their close interaction with experts in respective fields.

The full-day workshop sessions focused on discovering and identifying the talent of each participant, exposing them to the vast ocean of real life experiences of a media legend in the Kingdom, presenting them with the basics of journalism and creative communication, taking them to the real world of visual media, and helping them to build their skills and career beyond 2025.

The workshop, organized by Goodwill Global Initiative, began with the motivation session titled “Discover the pearl inside you” by Dr. Abdussalam Omar of King Saud University, Riyadh. In a highly inspiring and real paradigm shift session, Dr. Omar, international inspirational life coach, emphasized the need to identify the pearl of talent in each student and focus on developing that trait along with enabling them to acquire skills needed to scale ladders of excellence in life without compromising on values.

The session was followed by the inaugural session that explored into the “Thrills and skills of working in the media” with an interface session titled “Discourse with a Doyen” with Almaeena. He delved deep into the rich experience spanning over quarter of a century as editor in chief of the two English dailies in the Kingdom — Arab News and Saudi Gazette.

Siraj Wahab, managing editor of Arab News, was the other speaker of the session, which was moderated by Dr. Ismail Maritheri of King Abdulaziz University. Earlier, Jaleel Kannamangalam welcomed the gathering.

Almaeena shared his rich experiences in a wide range of areas, including media and public relations as well as a commentator in addition to his contributions in enhancing bonds of cultural exchange between Saudi Arabia and India. While underscoring India’s strength of unity in diversity and inclusiveness, he exhorted the younger generation to hold fast to values and acquire life skills to meet boldly the potential challenges in a world full of challenges and problems. Almaeena urged them to convert challenges into opportunities and strive to achieve excellence in all walks of life.

The media theory and practical sessions were handled by L. Ramnarayan Iyer (Executive Editor, Saudi Gazette) on “Creative communication” and Hassan Cheruppa (Saudi Gazette) on “the Media scene.”

In his session, Ramnarayan explored the changes in the mode of communication, with the social media revolution bringing about quick changes, and how best to cope with the bombardment of messaging.

He gave the students an idea of how traditional news gathering still mattered in the new digital era, and how the quest for facts would stand them in good stead in any career. He conducted an activity of how to shape a story, with the students asking the basic questions that had the five Ws and an H, to which they were introduced by Cheruppa during an interactive session.

“A peep into TV Studio work” session was conducted by senior journalists of Iqraa Channel, including Nezar Al-Ali, director of Media Center, Producer Hassan Attas and Engineer Muddathir, and its venue was the studio of the channel. The participants were taken to the nearby television headquarters during the midday break. The workshop sessions came to a close with the live skill session of Dr. Abdussalam Omar on “Skills and Career beyond 2025.”

Indian Consul General Sheikh was the keynote speaker in the valedictory session. In his speech, Sheikh congratulated GGI for taking such a wonderful initiative that would have electrifying impact on the life of the participants. He told them to retain what they have learnt in the full-day event in building their professional career in future. Dr. Ismail Maritheri, president of GGI, presided over the function in which Nezar Al-Ali, director of media center, Iqraa Channel, received a huge round of applause when he unveiled Iqraa Television’s plan to hold six-month long professional workshop for highly talented Indian students with extraordinary creativity free of charge.

Abdul Ghafoor Danish, member of the Higher Board of international Indian schools; Mohammad Ghazanfar Alam, chairman IISJ managing committee; Mohammed Alungal, president of Abeer Medical Group and chairman of 24 News Channel; and V.P. Mohammed Ali, chairman of Jeddah National Hospital, spoke in the session in which Dr. Muzaffar Hassan, principal of IISJ, was also present.

The consul general presented mementos to Mohammed Alungal and V.P. Mohammed Ali, both patrons of GGI, as well as to Chemban Abbas, Rahim Pattarkadavan (Zahrani Group), Mullaveettil Salim (Lahore Garden), Arshad Noufal (New Ghulail Polyclinic), Siyaz V.P. (Impala Group), Muhammad Abdul Razak (Rehaili Polyclinic) and Fathima Shamoola Sharafath, who anchored the event.

Earlier, Sahal Kalambrattil recited a few verses of the Holy Qur’an, and GGI General Secretary Hassan Cheruppa welcomed the gathering while Program Chief Coordinator Musthafa Vakkaloor proposed the vote of thanks.

The organizers of the event included GGI Treasurer Hassan Siddique Babu, Ishaq Poondoli, Kabeer Kondotty, Sadiqali Thuvvur, APA Ghafour, Noufal Palakkoth, Abdurahman Kalambrattil, Murthalla P.M, Ashraf Pattathil, Ebrahim Shamnad, Aruvi Mongam, Ghafour Kondotty, Mansoor Wandoor and Musthafa Peruvalloor.

Apart from IISJ, the host school, students from international schools in Jeddah such as DPS, New Al-Wurood, Al Mawarid, Novel, Ahdab, Dauha Al Uloom, Radhwa of Yanbu, Jabal Farasan Rabigh and Al Janoub Khamis Mushayt attended the event.