And during the next elections as different parties promise freebies to the poor, and the same poor people with stars in their eyes jump to claim them, remember it’s your tax money that is being paid in exchange for votes! Free colour TV’s, waiver of farmer loans, free electricity and…
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.
Don’t Run, Face It..!
“I’ll have another drink,” he told the waiter. “It’s your fourth,” I said. “So you’re good at counting,” he acknowledged. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” “I know when to stop,” he said, looking at me red faced and eyes glazed, “D’you know what my commanding officer called me today?”…
Become Childlike..!
“For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these..” Jesus I remember once, watching astonished as Jeff, my huge, scary German- Shepherd dog, became a little pup and followed my nephew around the room, nuzzling into his ear and behaving as if he’d found a long lost friend: All…
Read and Lead..!
A writer rarely has free time, not because he’s always writing, but that he’s thinking his next article or story or play or plot. But, on those delightfully glorious occasions I find I have that odd hour or two, I pull out a huge volume of short stories by Roald…
Those Small Annoyances..!
I pressed the horn, stomped on the accelerator, cursed the driver in the next car and nearly shouted at the traffic policeman. “What’s the matter dad?” she asked. “I hate being late,” I grumbled. “D’you know of all the people whose lives were saved because they were late?” That evening…
Build Bridges not Walls..!
Here’s a small story of two brothers who lived side by side in their own farms for many years, until one day, a foolish argument caused a rift between them. This was the first serious disagreement the brothers had in all of their 50 years. Up until that day, they…
Red River Valley and Love Jihad..!
The first melody I learned to play on my harmonica as a youngster was the ‘Red River Valley’ and often as I played its sad, melancholic tune, wondered what the lyrics meant. It was only recently I heard the reason behind the strange title, and why the lyrics were written….
Be a Father to Him..!
Sometimes we wonder as we see our loved ones in pain, why good people go through suffering. I remember my feelings many years ago, when I heard my dad in the US was diagnosed with cancer: “Dads cancer,” said my mom’s voice on the phone, “has reached the bone. He’s…
Funeral Attire or Hospital Gown..!
They came in fancy funeral attire! Friends and relatives in their Sunday best, carefully preserved for occasions like this; a funeral of a young relative! I’d come early, and expected nobody! Because no one had come when she, with kidneys failing, and no money in the bank had dialed me…
Let Go and Jump..!
Was sitting in my garden one morning and heard the sound of crows cawing out loud. I decided to go up to check and found a pa and ma crow trying to encourage their little fellow to fly out of his nest. “Come on jump!” cawed the father. “You’ve got…
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.