The doorbell rang, a watchman stood outside my door. It was two in the morning. “Drunk girl on the staircase sir!” he said. I called out to my daughter to come with me. We walked to the building near the gate. She was sprawled on the first floor landing, my…
Go Back to the Pavilion..!
The other day I heard a voice singing, it was that of a young girl. Her voice was melodious, her tone beautiful, plaintive yet resonating. I had heard about her from other singers, who had scoffed at her and said she could not hold a note, but that day as…
Bank Collapses, Ice Creams and Chocolates..!
The world-renowned economist walked out of the airport, after the emergency call I’d made to him, to visit our country after the series of bank collapses. “What I recommend for your nation is to spend, spend, spend! Don’t save. That way you have guarded yourself against your banks which are…
Our Foreign Minister and Our True Friends?
“The reaction of other countries and global bodies to matters such as the new citizenship law and the changes in Kashmir had helped India find out who its friends really are”, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday. Wrong sir. A true friend is not one who will agree…
UNLEASH Yourself TODAY, this Woman’s Day..!
And even as there’ll be a lot of fanfare today on ‘Woman’s Day’ with national leaders telling the world, about the position of women in India, and how they led this parade or that, and how they head this ministry or that, I look with skepticism at this charade. And…
Dare to Make and Keep Friends..!
I had an uncle, an officer in the army whose close friend was a truck driver. One day, when his friend was insulted for being in the profession he was in, my uncle walked out of the gathering saying, “If you can’t behave well to my friend, then you guys…
The Corona Virus, Death and YOU..!
Suddenly, fear has gripped the world. Not just a village or a township, not just a country, but six billion the world over are petrified. Every sneeze is looked with fear and every sniffle, suspicion. Political leaders who sneered and jeered are now refraining from playing Holi and leaving the…
What’s A Pavement Dad?
Don’t be surprised if the conversation below happens with you in it: “What’s a pavement Dad?” asked the little girl looking up from her homework. “My child,” said the father gently, “haven’t I always told you to refer to the dictionary, see how you found out the meaning of ‘ambidextrous’…
Mauled by A Mall..!
Malls! They’re at every corner, huge and looming, sneering at little shopkeepers in their little shops, laughing gaily at pavement vendors as they seductively fill themselves with millions, nay zillions of shoppers, who saunter from floor to floor, entering shop, leaving shop, burdened with brimming bundles, crammed cartons, big boxes….
A Meaningful Good Morning..!
A little boy and his grandfather walked down the road one morning. The boy felt his grandfather’s grip tighten and he wondered why. He watched another old man walking towards them. “Good morning!” said his grandfather. “Mornin,” said the other old man stiffly as he walked by. “You don’t like…
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.