Sixty-nine candidates elected unopposed! Just like that. No ballot papers warmed by human fingers. No queues outside schools. No indelible ink on proud index fingers. Democracy, apparently, decided to take the day off. In the Maharashtra municipal elections, sixty- eight of those unopposed seats quietly slipped into the pocket of…
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.
Sleepless World Leaders..!
World leaders, ladies and gentlemen, have officially stopped sleeping. Not because of climate change or inflation, but because sleep has become geopolitically unsafe. Ever since one Latin American leader was escorted from his bed to New York faster than a room service order, world leaders have begun to view bedrooms…
You Wanted His Blessings Sir?
Since you visited a church sir, I suppose you went looking for blessings. That cathedral is grand enough to give that impression. But here is the inconvenient truth sir. God’s blessings are not dispensed like prasad after a brief appearance. They follow obedience not optics. There are no shortcuts through…
Youngsters, Don’t Be Globally Backward..!
There is a strange irony playing out in full public view, yet many refuse to see it. While the sons and daughters of our political leaders board flights to London, Boston, Singapore and Sydney, to study, the message sent to our local youth standing in dusty classrooms back home is…
He Goes Ahead..!
While watching the New Year celebrations on television, a strange though very ordinary thing happened. It was not yet New Year in Chicago, where I was, but the New Year had already arrived elsewhere. India had welcomed it with fireworks and selfies. China had stepped into it with colour and…
Oath in the Capital..!
While the rest of the world sits with diaries open and gym memberships renewed, resolving to drink more water and scroll less, something far more honest happens in the capital of India. An army gathers. Not to change. Not to improve. But to reaffirm continuity. This is not a resolution…
Make Resolutions With Purpose..!
January has a smell to it. Somewhere between a new diary and a gym membership that has not yet been ignored. We make resolutions with great ceremony. We announce them like New Year speeches. This year I will wake early. This year I will eat wisely. This year I will…
Burning the Old Man..!
If there is one thing I would happily burn tonight, it would be India’s national factory of fake news. Not a symbolic spark, but a proper Indian bonfire, the kind that crackles loudly, attracts a crowd, and can be seen from several mohallas away. Because this factory has grown too…
As Indians, Live Your Faith This Year..!
Some of the most powerful sermons are never preached from pulpits, they are lived out in everyday moments, in taxis, queues, offices, and homes. This New Year, my sermon came from the front seat of an Uber in Chicago. I had entered the wrong address, and so was taken to…
Smile Sir, Smile..!
I watched you on television sir, entering a church on Christmas Day, a cathedral in the capital, cameras clicking as faithfully as your folded hands. It was reported to be your first visit to a church. Congratulations sir. Though I must say, you did not need to march in as…
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.