Sukumar Ranganathan: The Editor who made excellence non-negotiable

Sukumar Ranganathan stepping down as Editor-in-Chief of Hindustan Times came as a surprise. For me, however, the moment is also an opportunity to celebrate a side of him that I have had the privilege of witnessing closely over the past four years.

Sukumar has chaired the jury of the e4m English Journalism 40 Under 40 Awards since its inception. The programme allows us to recognise 40 journalists every year. Yet, under his stewardship, the jury has never treated that number as a target to be filled.

The largest cohort we have ever selected was 26. This year, the number fell to just 17.

That statistic says something important about Sukumar. He has always believed that recognition must be earned, not distributed. For him, an award is meaningful only when the standards behind it remain uncompromised. He deliberately chose a small pool of journalists whose work was genuinely exceptional, even when selecting fewer winners meant taking the more difficult path.

I have rarely seen anyone bring such seriousness to a jury process. His involvement has been legendary. He would examine every profile, study the body of work and take notes—profusely. During jury meetings, he could recall details about candidates that many of us had to revisit in our papers.

Sometimes, the process would stretch over several months. Yet, when the jury reconvened, Sukumar would remember the earlier discussions, the arguments made and the finer points raised about individual candidates. This was not ceremonial participation from a jury chair. It was ownership in the truest sense.

What has stayed with me just as strongly is his simplicity.

Despite the stature he carries, Sukumar is invariably the most humble person in the room. At our events, when speaker schedules have stretched or proceedings have run late, he has always been extraordinarily accommodating. There has never been any fuss or assertion of importance—just patience, focus and quiet graciousness.

That combination is rare: a fierce commitment to standards accompanied by a complete absence of self-importance.

Editors are often remembered for the headlines published under their watch, the stories they championed or the newsrooms they led. Sukumar will certainly be remembered for all of that. But leadership is also revealed in smaller, less visible rooms—in the notes taken on an unfamiliar journalist’s work, in the insistence that merit cannot be diluted and in the seriousness with which someone approaches a responsibility that may never make a headline.

His departure marks the end of an important chapter at Hindustan Times. But the institution-building capacity, editorial vision and intellectual rigour he brought to his role will endure.

For those of us who have had the privilege of observing him closely, Sukumar Ranganathan’s legacy is not only about what he led. It is also about how he led—with integrity, humility and an unwavering respect for excellence.