A couple of my serious minded friends have been saying, “Bob you’ve been writing too much banter lately, what about a serious article?” “Like what?” I ask “Something churchy?” “Okay friends I’ll oblige, here’s something churchy for you!” In the old days when you couldn’t count on a public toilet…
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.
Trust and Our Politicians..!
Politics in our country has reached such a low, that people just won’t trust politicians. I got a frantic message from a poor friend in Orissa saying that all around him people were dying for lack of oxygen, ventilators and medicine. I got in touch with another very close friend…
What Gives You Wings?
I heard a funny story: A small plane with an instructor and student on board hit the runway and bounced repeatedly until it came to a stop. The instructor turned to the student and said, “That was a terrible landing you just made.” “Me?” replied the student. “I thought you…
Slow Down and Live..!
For the last few years I’ve been hearing of one of our political leaders who hardly rests and is always is in a hurry. I do understand that as that was once how I lived. In fact, for years on end, my time spent in the shower could have got…
The Real Monster..!
The Whatsapp message that came to me was from a phone number of an Indian in America, it said, ‘Terror has no religion’. However it was not making a statement, it was mocking a particular religious community, with statistics and data that had sarcasm dripping from the pen of the…
Peter and his Belch..!
The man walking by me, slightly bedraggled and beard unkempt, cleared his throat, blew his nose and I watched in horror as whatever irritated his nostrils landed close to my feet. “Hey,” I shouted, “That nearly fell on my feet!” “It didn’t!” said the man as he prepared for his…
She Sat Smiling..!
The rain fell in gentle drops onto the waiting leaves that seemed to be smiling as they raised their branches heavenward and received their watery blessing. The birds sang happily, and lazily flew from tree to tree enjoying the droplets and playing a game with the lenient raindrops. She sat…
They Are Our Children..!
‘Twas two years ago, three friends and I drove to Goa, and stopped at a well-known restaurant for lunch. It was an open-air eatery and as we sat we could see car loads of families coming with hungry passengers looking famished and tired. The fathers seated themselves at the head…
Cyclone Cruelty, You and Me..!
Cruel, heartless and merciless was evil wind that blew in last week, piloted with ferocity by Cyclone Tauktae herself! Scorn writ all over her face, she mowed down all in her path; trees, lampposts, hutments and people themselves. I beheld her destruction, as like a boxer with a wicked left…
Being UnIndian..!
With patriotism being questioned, sedition being defined and slogans being the criteria for motherland loyalty, we may have a confused people in the country: My daughter, who stands at attention when the national anthem is played even on TV for the cricket team, stopped me at the door while I…
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.