“What’s that terrible smell?” shouted the chairman of the board, who was the head of a charitable organization that looked after those in prison. We all wondered where the smell…
I’ve always been rather fond of John; quite liked the fact that though he was short, he appeared taller than most people on stage and even off. People said he…
He had worked and lived abroad, alone, all his life, and today as he stood with the rest of the family at the wedding of his daughter, he realized he…
Decades ago, I traveled the local trains of Bombay, most often clinging to the sides of the doorway, hanging on for life. Daredevil stunts like this helped me get to…
I was at a dinner the other day when the speaker a small dapper billionaire, who had built up an empire, spoke at length about his humble beginnings. “I owe…
Maybe you don’t know, or just maybe you don’t want to read between the lines but with recent pictures of a bare chested Putin flexing muscle, or another talking about…
Most of us seek approval. How often I’ve seen a child or maybe an adult rushing home from school or work, eyes all aglow, “I’ve done well in my exam!”…
In ancient Greece and Rome, the Stoics, a group of philosophers who preached the value of emotional resilience — and whose teachings have plenty of modern-day devotees — urged adherents…
“Don’t worry, we’ll keep you in a safe house!” says the police officer reassuringly to the frightened but bold person who has decided to testify against his criminal boss! And…
It’s always amused me some, that in the US a black man is called ‘coloured’. I guess to the white man of the old days, anything that was not white…
It was one of those days when you suddenly have time and you don’t know what to do with it; the wedding ceremony I’d attended was over by four in…
Today the amphitheater lies decayed and unused, and as the sea winds from Marine Drive just across the railway tracks sweeps across the once famous open air theatre now lying…
“Chip-chip! Chip-chip! Chip-chip! Chip-chip!” The squirrel outside my window was making quite a racket this afternoon. “Stop the racket!” I said as I opened the window and stared harshly at…
Was listening to Shashi Tharoor speak very eloquently on how the British looted India and about the atrocities committed. I have visited New Zealand and the United States, where the…
“I’m so sorry to hear you’re down with Covid!” you whisper with concern into the phone, “And if there’s anything I can do for you, don’t hesitate to ask!” Well,…
Being a writer has its drawbacks I discovered one day when I took my shoes over to the shoe shop. “New shoes!” said the shoe shop owner looking at the…
“Dad, we’re looking for the perfect man!” my daughters would sigh a few years ago, and I would smile and tell them there’s no such thing as finding a perfect…
Like it not, Covid-19 is playing havoc with the world’s economy and there’s fears of the dreadful R word staring at you and me, and the first thing you or…
Author : Robert Clements
Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and writes a daily column, which has graced the pages of over 60 newspapers and magazines, from a daily column in the Khaleej Times, Dubai, the Morning Star, London, and in nearly every state in India, from The Statesman in Kolkata, to the Kashmir Times in Kashmir to the Trinity Mirror in Chennai.