Arab News has been part of my professional life for nearly 20 years. I was first introduced to it in February 1987 when I came to Jeddah as India’s consul general. The paper then was a valuable source of local and regional information since few of us in the consular corps were familiar with Arabic. The paper was at best functional in its coverage of local news. It was bland and restrained and, in its anxiety to avoid conveying any form of bad news, emphasized the timid and the tepid. Even though the city itself was vibrating with political discussion and robust contention, you would not find this excitement reflected in the columns of Arab News. There were no reports of robberies, murders or even car accidents or of other such horrible things that are the stuff of daily life all over the world.

The principal excitement for the Indian community was provided by the deep and abiding interest of the paper in the happenings at the Indian school in Jeddah. If we were to judge the events in the city purely on the basis of what we read in the paper, we could not but conclude that the Indian school was the single most important institution in the region, that it was racked by corruption and vice, that all its staff were incompetent, and that the consulate officials headed by the consul general were the most villainous individuals ever to set foot in the Kingdom. All this was done in the name of community service!

Not surprisingly, besides local news, the best section of the paper was the comics and crossword page. Not being very good at word games, I used to spend a few hours attempting to complete the crossword. All of this, in due course, served to form deep bonds between me and the paper, with its unique green front and back pages and its completely predictable placement of news, local, regional and international. Everyday you began to await the arrival of a close friend who had important things to convey, some of which you did not particularly like.

The best part of being linked with the Arab News was the fact that I came to know the Editor in Chief, Mr. Khaled Almaeena — a cheerful, urbane, knowledgeable, funny and warm hearted individual; he was quite different from the colorless and cautious personality of his newspaper!

His deputy was Farouk Luqman. Both Khaled and Farouk Luqman had lived for several years in the Indian Subcontinent, spoke Urdu, and enjoyed gossip and Indian politics and culture. They became my close friends and enriched my professional and personal life.

I came back to Saudi Arabia nearly 10 years later, this time as the Indian ambassador in Riyadh. So much had changed in the period I had been away. The Kingdom was the scene of some of the most important and significant debates taking place in the Arab world relating to politics in the region; religion, human rights, education, academic reform and the status of women. During this period, Arab News, quietly and with determination, also transformed itself and acquired a new identity. Column upon column, page upon page, it reflected the vibrancy and ferment in the region, discussing the most significant issues of common concern, and ensuring that every shade of opinion was reflected and given a fair airing — from the most orthodox to the extraordinarily liberal. It truly reflected the excitement, the despair, the fear and the exultation that by turns overwhelmed the Saudi and Arab people, when success was swiftly followed by setback, as the Saudi leaders and their people coped with extraordinary challenges that demanded a reassertion of their noble core values even as they reviewed the aspirations for change and reform, in the early part of the new century. Happily, Khaled Almaeena, still at the head of this paper, steered it through these tumultuous times with a deft hand, always keeping his cool and his sense of humor, even as he explained his country and his people’s interests and concerns in his thoughtful columns and, to uninformed and skeptical Western audiences, through his clear and wise sound bytes on BBC and CNN.

Arab News today truly mirrors the debates of Saudi Arabia and the Arab world, where all aspects of daily life are being reviewed and there are no prescriptions on what view one should hold. Now, although I have been away from the Kingdom for nearly two years, I turn to the Arab News website everyday to inform myself of events in the country and the region that I deeply cherish. Never have I failed to find an honest mirror image of the vibrancy, excitement and sharp debate that is the central reality of the Arabian Peninsula today.

(Talmiz Ahmad served as India’s consul general in Jeddah between 1987-1990 and as India’s ambassador in Riyadh between 2000-2003. He is presently with the Indian Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.)