By C.M. Paul

Sondada, April 6, 2020: A Kolkata boy has been a media man with the prestigious Vatican Radio for some 30 years now. He is currently working for the English language world program of what is the Pope’s Radio.

Robin Gomes started his stint with Vatican Radio’s Indian Section back in December 1989. The radio broadcasts daily in 47 languages, including three Indian – Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil.

A former student of Don Bosco Bandel (1972) and Salesian College Sonada, 1977 batch, Gomes graduated with BA degree in English Honors. He moved to Calcutta (now Kolkata), where he obtained a B Ed to start a teaching career with St. Augustine’s Day School, Shyamnagar. Later, he studied MA in English from the University of Burdwan.

After working for some eight years as an English teacher in two schools, Gomes got selected for Vatican Radio’s English language program for Asia.

Recalling his job interview for Vatican Radio held in Calcutta in 1988, 64-year old Gomes says, “I was not nervous to face the interview, as I had ample opportunities in Salesian College Sonada to participate in inter-college drama and debates, of which I was always a team member.”

Several of his batch mates were talented actors, debaters, and musicians often staging three-act dramas for the annual college concert, or other important feast days as those days there was no television and cinema in Gorabari village of Sonada town for entertainment.

Already as a student, Gomes had mastered a distinct speaking style close to BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) anchors and newsreaders, and this he used in Vatican Radio’s news reports and interviews of not only Asian stories but also of important and significant international issues.

Gomes, who is based in Rome, has served three Popes in his 30-year media career – Saint Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict and Pope Francis.

For what Gomes is today, especially at Vatican Radio, he says, “I owe much to two of my former teachers – Frederick Gomes (now in Australia) and Trophy D’Souza (now in U.K.).”

While Frederick Gomes, who developed a distinct ‘foreign’ English accent, gave Robin a head start in speaking English close to a native speaker, he also trained him and others to win recitation and drama contests in Don Bosco Bandel.

Trophy, on the other hand, had a big hand in helping the Salesian College Sonada team, including Gomes, win the Inter-collegiate Debate Contest in Darjeeling.

Vatican Radio is the official broadcasting service of the Vatican and the Pope set up in 1931 by the famed radio pioneer, Guglielmo Marconi.

Today, programs are produced by over two hundred journalists located in 61 countries. Vatican Radio produces more than 42,000 hours of simultaneous broadcasting covering international news, religious celebrations, in-depth programs, and music.