P Sukumaran
Editor and Publisher
Excellence Global Middle East LLC
Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
A veteran media entrepreneur with several literary and media ventures in India and the GCC, Mr. P. Sukumaran is the Editor and Publisher of Excellence Global Middle East LLC, which is based in Muscat, Oman. It was his venture that brought out the phenomenal “The Who’s Who of UAE Malayalis’, a tome featuring 2,000 prominent Malayalis in the Emirates, in January 2020. This exhaustive volume features Malayalis who have made their mark in the professional, entrepreneurial, and cultural segments. His directories deserve special mention, as they introduced more than 5,000 prominent Malayalis spanning diverse fields in Indian metro cities as well as GCC nations. Among them are globally acclaimed industrialists and business moguls.
A native of Nangiarkulangara in Kerala’s Alappuzha district, Mr. Sukumaran envisioned the directory as a ready reckoner of all Malayali associations in the country, exhaustive services of the Indian embassy and the consulate, and the personnel and services of NORKA. The initial work on similar editions in Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain is underway, and they are slated to be published soon.
To keep up with technological advancements, Mr Sukumaran launched The Gulf Indians, a multilingual news portal, at a grand function at Hycinth Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram in January 2020. Simultaneously, a YouTube channel of The Gulf Indians was also started, featuring news analysis of various political and developmental issues, business, and education sectors. Both ventures are currently being revamped to reach a wider audience.
A seasoned media professional with several hard-hitting stories to his credit, Mr. Sukumaran once ignited a controversy by exposing the utter neglect and sad condition of illustrious painter Raja Ravi Varma’s lithographic press in Lonavala near Mumbai. His article, which was published in 2002 in ‘Kalakaumudi,’ triggered an outcry so much so that the Kerala Government tried in vain to take over the heritage structure and preserve it. For that stinging expose, he won the Best Journalist Award that year.
It was while working in the engineering department of Mumbai’s Hinduja Hospital that Mr Sukumaran, who was a well-known figure in the socio-cultural circles of the city, took the initiative to establish Malayalam Media Publishers and Distributors Pvt Ltd in 1988 to publish Malayalam magazines and books.
He also brought out Malayali directories from different Indian cities. Interestingly, the first Mumbai Malayali Directory was launched by Shri E. K. Nayanar, the then chief minister. Directories listing the notable Malayalis in Pune, Bengaluru, and Chennai also followed suit. From 1992, the publishing house started bringing out ‘Malayalikalude Malayala Nadu,’ a magazine that had a wide readership in Mumbai and Kerala.
Another magazine that Mr Sukumaran published for many years was ‘Pravasikalude Keralam’. He was also the Chief Editor of one of the reference books in Malayalam entitled ‘Malayala Sangeetha Smaranika’ published by Raga Sudha, Mumbai. He also played a vital role in bringing to the limelight the contributions made by the Malayali diaspora to the economic revival of Kerala. His love for the language made him organise the largest Malayalam Book Fair in Chennai in 2007. A first of its kind in the history of the southern metropolis, the seven-day event showcased more than one lakh titles from over 400 publishers, which included Book Mark, DC Books, TBS, Current Books, and Mathrubhumi Books, to name a few.
As part of this mega event, Mr Sukumaran was also at the vanguard of organising a five-day seminar to promote Malayalam art, culture, literature, and cinema on the sidelines of the event. Prominent writers and film directors like Perumbadavom Sreedharan, Punathil Kunjabdullah, Kureepuzha Sreekumar, D. Vinayachandran, Akbar Kakkattil, Rose Mary, Lohithadas, Priya Nandan, R Sreekandan Nair, K S Sethumadhavan, and Dr M Rajeev Kumar graced the occasion.
During his heydays in Mumbai in the 1980s, Mr Sukumaran was an integral part of the Malayalam experimental theatre circuit that had a huge following.
While serving as the Secretary of the Natyakshethra experimental drama troupe, he was at the forefront of organising scores of performances in the city involving actors who were graduates of the School of Drama. He also exercised his directorial skills with flourish and was active in conducting many seminars and workshops related to theatre. It is worth mentioning that Natyakshethra and its performances enjoyed wide coverage in the media.
This theater enthusiast is no stranger to documentaries. Mr Sukumaran has been closely associated with several documentaries. He was the chief project coordinator for the documentary on Raja Ravi Varma entitled ‘Before the Brush Dropped,’ which bagged the state award.
Throughout his career, Mr. Sukumaran has interacted with many stalwarts in the Malayalam literary field and has interviewed many celebrities from politics, literature, art, and culture. He is the recipient of the Malayala Shabdam Award and the Khazack Award for his contributions to Malayalam journalism as a non-resident Keralite. His interviews have appeared in several English and Malayalam dailies and television channels, including Asianet, Kairali, Amrita and Jeevan TV, had interviewed him. He is married to Jaya Sukumaran, and they are blessed with a son, Anand Sukumaran, and a daughter, Ammu Sukumaran. Anand is married to Aiswarya. They have two children. Siddharth and Advaith.
Contact Information
Excellence Global Middle East LLC.P.O. Box : 123
P.C.: 120, 13/1112, Mumtaz Residence, Ruwi, Muscat,Sultanate of Oman.
Email :
Mobile : +968 9884 8103
India : +91 97462 91002
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