Garlands & insults 2004

This year my research for topics has made me learn a lot about myself.

Another year has passed with another 50 odd columns and just like last year my editors asked me to write a review for the year. This year it was a bit easier to write than last year because now I no longer consider myself a "greenhorn" and after more than 100 columns it feels more comfortable to sit down and pour something out on paper.

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This year too I learned quite a bit, not just during my research about the various topics I touched upon, but also about myself. I could manage a deadline, and that on a weekly basis, no matter how swamped at work I was or how many chores I had to do elsewhere or where in the world I was travelling. I also realised that this column took up a large part of my thoughts as if it suddenly had a life of its own. Every time I picked up a newspaper or heard a remark, as trite as it seemed, in my mind it was immediately checked on whether or not it could possibly lead to a column (no, I am not obsessed, just very interested). And most of those did. I put up the columns on a blog on the web and many a comment was left on that blog, evidence of how a grain of salt affected the readers. Many a discussion resulted in emails, travelling in cyberspace from different countries to decorate me with garlands or heave heavy insults on me. Surprisingly enough one of my columns even got me an invite to speak on a radio show. So all in all I am not obsessed with the column, but I tend to see it more like a child of mine, learning to walk with more confident steps now, almost two years into its existence.