After my book launch in the beginning of February, my daughter who came down from New York with her two-year old twin boys hasn’t been able to go back because of the lockdown, and what a joy it’s been having them around; two little bundles of mischief, of laughter, and…
Washing Your Hands For 20 Seconds..!
At this very moment, there must be over a billion of us all over the world, rigorously washing our hands for twenty full seconds! But, ask yourself, what you are washing away? Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth, bearing a ‘deathlike stare’, wearing a flowing night-dress that reminded some reviewers of a shroud,…
Create a Peaceful Park In Your Head..!
“How peaceful it’s in here!” said a friend of mine as he sat in my living room. “Peaceful?” I asked surprised. My friend went to the window and opened another shutter, “Can you hear the rustling of the leaves? You are so lucky Bob, you have a peepul tree just…
Dare to UNBLUNT Yourself..!
How often we meet people who after saying something tasteless, remark in defense, “Forgive me for being blunt, but I’m made that way!” Sometime back a friend of mine decided to start writing poetry, and sent me his first poem. My attitude towards reading that poem even before I saw…
Opening of Liquor Shops.!
Now that the government has announced the opening of hooch shops, and some are for it, and many against it, I decided I’d don a mask, practice social distancing and find out for myself the reaction of drinkers by meeting them as they bought their liquor: “Stand in line brother,”…
When I Interviewed a World Heavyweight Boxing Champ..!
My phone rang as I drove home one night many years ago. It was from a newspaper I wrote for, “Would you like to interview Evander Holyfield, the boxer?” “Ofcourse,” I said and images came to me of a badly bruised boxing heavy weight with a part of his ear…
Whisker of A Tiger..!
As we face another two weeks of lockdown, there are many homes where patience has run out, as conflicts between family members have risen especially among husbands and wives, parents and children, sometimes quite alarming. And so, this story: Once upon a time in Siam there lived a young newly…
Soap In My Mouth, Detergent In My Stomach..!
Maybe, tis my late mother’s birthday today, that brings this very poignant memory to my mind, of her coming to pick me up from school when I was a little fellow, and finding I was punished, “What’s his punishment?” asked my mother, quite okay that if Bob did something wrong,…
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.