This morning’s Times of India did not just carry a headline. It carried a memory. Three men sentenced to death for gang rape and murder. Clinical words. Legal words. Necessary words. And in the middle of it all, the name of a young man who had tried to stop them….
Robert Clements is a journalist and newspaper columnist. With an estimated 6 million readership, his column, Bob’s Banter is published in over 30 newspapers and magazines in nearly every state in India, as well as in the top newspapers of Bangladesh, London and Dubai and is also translated into Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu.
No Confidence and The Speaker..!
The opposition has very kindly sponsored a no confidence motion against the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. It is almost certain to fail. Arithmetic is a stubborn creature. If you have the numbers, you win. But numbers do not erase meaning. A no confidence motion is not a casual complaint…
Anti- Narrow Pants..!
A few weeks ago, in a moment of generosity I still consider Nobel Prize worthy, I offered someone close to me, a pair of black pants. I seem to have collected quite a few over time. Black trousers multiply in cupboards. They have secret meetings at night and reproduce. He…
Holy Anger and Unholy Temper..!
Anger is one of those emotions we defend passionately while claiming we hardly ever have it. “I am not angry,” we say loudly, with bulging eyes and trembling nostrils. At that point even the ceiling fan feels unsafe, as your wife and children hide. The Bible, thankfully, is more honest…
Nobody Wants a Silent Chief..!
At the farthest edge of a village, where people once lived in harmony, but in the last eleven years had not, a white bearded chief stood staring into the horizon. His bald deputy stood beside him, polished scalp reflecting both sunlight and loyalty. “The opposition is shouting that you surrendered…
Why Truthteller’s are Never Invited Twice..!
People say they want honesty. They demand it. They post about it. They frame it on their office walls. “Speak the truth,” they declare with moral authority, usually while hoping nobody actually does. Because the moment someone does, the room changes temperature. Let us imagine a simple family gathering. Everyone…
Enough Is Not Enough..!
There is something deeply exhausting about watching very wealthy people argue about who gets the slightly bigger slice of an already enormous cake. In the ongoing court case over the wealth of the late Sunjay Kapur, when family disputes spilled out in full public view, Judge Mini Pushkarna reportedly observed…
Coffee, Me and Dementia..!
Today’s article in the Times brought me unexpected medical validation. According to learned people with graphs and charts, two to three cups of coffee a day may help keep dementia at bay. I read it slowly, reverently, the way one reads a verdict of acquittal. Then I smiled the smile…
Not Worth Resuscitating…!
I spent the entire morning at the hospital for my half yearly eye check-up. Since it happens to be the hospital where my wife works as a doctor, I make a modest effort to look respectable. Not power suit respectable. Not international summit respectable. Just respectable enough that her colleagues…
Why We Never Question Authority..!
It is no wonder that politicians and priests get away with almost anything in our country. Frankly, they deserve an award for consistency. We have spent generations training them by practising obedience with Olympic level discipline. Nod on cue. Clap on command. Never ask why. If questioning were a crime,…
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.