BACK TO THE OLD WAYS

It has been a while since my words (or indeed my picture) have visited these green pages, but things have a way of turning around. Those of you who remember, I wrote for Arab News for many years then left for another bunch of years. Yes, there were some difficult moments in the relationship, but anyone looking for salacious details of what happened, will not get them. Not my style.

Suffice it to say that separately I kept on writing and Arab News kept on publishing. We both survived our mutual separation. And, I might add, we both did it rather handsomely. I guess the ones who really missed me were those who changed their publication day (my column was in the Thursday edition of every week) so they could plagiarize my ideas and claim originality. This is not a boast; it is true since I took it to some legal length and some of it is still ongoing --if not in this country, then in other countries where the paper their articles appeared in is printed.

Since our mutual lot is interruption in any rhythm we feel comfortable in, today we find this paper under new editorial guidance.  So it is time to recommence our mutual cooperation. I dare say it was by mutual consent and desire. And that bodes well for the future.

Hajj is over and many happy returns to all. It will take a few weeks for Jeddah to go back to normal so this is a perfect time to start, albeit gingerly, if only to gauge the new mood around me. One never knows; and I am known for some rather quizzical diction, which is not to the taste of many.

To please or not to please, was not a question that bothered the Bard, nor does it make me lose sleep. Pleasing people is an impossibility, so why try it? Writing is altogether about communicating ideas and nothing more. Even telling a story in the form of a novel, is no more than an idea being communicated to others. Never mind those who tell you they are 'teaching' or 'guiding' or providing entertainment. For the latter go watch a movie; the other pretences are worthless. Yet those who write with passion and a pretence to human logos, do it for different reasons. Not all are successful, but most will find an audience. That audience is the writer's treasure.

 I would like to thank those readers who followed me wherever I was writing. Their fidelity is touching and their comments (not always flattering) were more than welcome. I met most of them (proverbially) on the pages of this newspaper and before it Saudi Gazette, and now that I am back we can both share this space again.

A word of apology for this rather personal first article, but I thought it a necessity given the circumstances of my leaving and returning. Most of the rumors that circulated about my departure from Arab News were not true. That is another fact worth mentioning and is worthy of the dustbin.