Dinesh Kamath completes seven years as journalist in weekly 'In New Bombay' and daily Newsband

Dinesh Kamath, Sr Sub-editor and currently Acting Editor of Newsband, completed seven years as journalist for the daily newspaper Newsband which was a weekly 'In New Bombay' before 1 May 2007.

I completed seven years as journalist in Newsband. Seven is a lucky number for me. I just love this number seven. I was just waiting to achieve this target and now i feel relieved that i achieved it. I had joined Newsband when it was a weekly called 'In New Bombay'. I had joined on 12 April 2004. I completed seven years on 11 April 2011. I feel quite satisfied with my achievement as a journalist during this seven years. The thing that I care for most is the readers' appreciation and this I've received in great quantity. Many readers have appreciated my contributions as a journalist and this fact gives me the most satisfaction.

People who love to read about films and filmstars have praised my column 'Movie and TV World' which I have been writing almost regularly since last seven years. Many of the readers told me that they just enjoy solving Brain Teasers that I've been making since last many years. The readers have also expressed their love for my cartoons based on 'Alooramji' and 'Puno'. Even my editorials were appreciated in big way. For your information, I have fans belonging to all the ages and both the sexes. That's what makes me feel great.

Don't get the impression that I received only bouquets during last seven years. I received a lot of brickbats too. If there were huge number of people who appreciated my works, there were also lot of readers who criticized my works. Some, in fact, criticized me so severely that I almost felt depressed and felt like giving up my career as journalist. But later I realized that all the public figures have to face such severe critics some time or the other during their career. So I began to ignore such critics especially if they were unjust and destructive critics. For your information, I did take very seriously just and constructive critics and these are the people who helped me to improve myself at every stage of my career. My fans gave me more joy and pleasure than the money that I earned during these seven years. My fans loved me so much that I didn't pay attention to my bank balance. Love of my fans means more to me than the bank balance. There were times when dirty politics that prevailed around me was discouraging me but it was the love of my fans that kept me going even in worst circumstances. If it was not for my fans I would have broken down and given up this career long time back.

But today, after completing seven years as journalist, I feel very strong. Experience instills a kind of strength - mental, physical and emotional - into a person. That's what I'm feeling. I'm feeling very strong and I feel confident that I will be able to continue contributing as a journalist for many more years to come. Bye!