One of the most horrifying memories of my early working years was travelling in the Mumbai local trains, hanging on to a metal bar with the desperation of a man who had suddenly discovered how much he liked living. If you have never done it, let me explain. You try…
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.
Your Story Isn’t Over..!
As the year closes there is always that awkward pause. It sits somewhere between the last cup of tea and the pillow that beckons. We look back and quietly count the days that could have been better. The words ‘if only’ parade past our minds like a highlight reel of…
Fear Not…!
I love the national anthem. You do not question it. You stand up, straighten your back, look noble and sing it with more enthusiasm than talent. I have sung it in school halls, dusty grounds, cinema theatres, and once on our Independence Day in Austria. Patriotic pride, yes. Spiritual experience,…
Bulldozing Their Way Through..!
There is a dangerous illusion in power. That if you have the numbers, you have the nation. That if a bill is passed, the argument is over. That once the Speaker says “ayes have it,” dissent has magically disappeared. It hasn’t. It has only changed location. When Parliament passes laws…
Telling a Story..!
There is a familiar scene in most homes today. A child sits cross legged, eyes glazed, thumb flicking with Olympic precision. The television murmurs in the background like an ignored relative. Parents watch this and sigh. Screen time, they say, is ruining childhood. And then, almost immediately, they hand the…
A Broken Voice for Christmas..!
“Now that you’ve retired, Ma, what do you plan to do?” her children asked as she returned home on her last day at the office. “Join the church choir,” she announced, her eyes shining. The children stared at her in disbelief. “But Ma, you don’t know how to sing.” She…
Imitating Joseph..!
As we enter Christmas week, the spotlight predictably falls on the Baby in the manger and on Mary, serene and glowing in every nativity scene ever enacted. Rightly so. But somewhere just outside the frame stands a man who rarely gets centre stage. Joseph. The man holding the lantern. The…
Smog Over the Capital..!
There’s a deadly smog over the capital. A dense, suffocating haze that hangs low over buildings, institutions, and common sense. This is not the kind that makes your throat burn or your eyes water. This one, settles quietly in the mind, blurring judgment and numbing outrage. In this smog, law…
Cross Over Shashi..!
Politics has always been a curious theatre where loyalty is applauded in speeches but often abandoned in practice. Few episodes illustrate this better than the recent conduct of Shashi Tharoor. He did not waste a moment before joining an opposition delegation invited by the ruling party to tell the world…
Sailing Rudderless..!
It was the tiniest part of the ship. I stood on the deck, looking at the vastness around me, the towering mast, the thick ropes, the heavy iron chains, and then my eyes fell on something so small that I almost laughed. That little thing? Surely not. “That’s the rudder,”…
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.