We are such weak creatures. Just when we think we are morally strong and begin to think that we cannot fall, we slip. Where do I get the strength to stand tall all the time? I realize such strength did not come about very easily. Just when we think we…
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.
Living In A Lousy Place..!
He was a cheerful fellow, with a wide grin as I came out of the airport. “Rough flight?” he asked. “You bet,” I said as I got into his car. I was there to address a group on the role of the press, I looked around at traffic jams and…
Lockdown Evolution..!
With the second major lockdown being imposed all over, there is a growing concern among renowned doctors of WHO, which after Donny Trump’s frequent outbursts against it is not taken as seriously as they once were. I chanced to be there in my imagination in one of their meetings. “I…
Not Just Fancy Legs..!
“Doesn’t he love showing off his fancy legs!” I said loudly, while walking at the park, last January. Loud enough for my companions to hear and they sniggered as the bald man in faded white T- shirt and shorts walked by at his incredible speed. The weather last January had…
Koffee with Karan and True Beauty..!
Many years ago I was watching ‘Koffee with Karan’ and enjoyed him interviewing the late Rishi Kapoor and wife Neetu. Theirs was a marriage that had lasted quite a few decades and in the film kingdom this is a record of sorts. What I loved best however was when Neetu…
Change your Frying Pan..!
Every once in a while we see someone with a far off look in their eyes, jaw locked with resolve and face steely with determination. The world laughs as they try to sell some far flung, huge, unimaginable idea. And then when we have all but forgotten them they appear…
Let Him Play..!
I love pipe organs and won’t spare an opportunity to write a story around them: In a large stone cathedral in Europe there was a large, magnificent pipe organ. It was a Saturday afternoon, and the caretaker was making one final check of the organ high in the balcony at…
Breaking the Chain of Retaliation..!
“I hate her, she’s a Pakistani!” I stopped in my tracks and glanced worriedly at my Zoom screen to look at who had uttered these words. I saw his face, contorted with rage, and realized I had to not just diffuse a tense situation, but ask for Divine guidance. This…
Rallies, Rivers and Regret..!
Now and then, one hears of the death of an MP or MLA succumbing to Covid-19! As I glance at the small picture that accompanies the newspaper article, I wonder what their last thoughts were as they lay in hospital bed under the deadly tentacles of the Green Monster. My…
Running Out of Steam..!
Today, as I listen to the political noise, the talk by rivals, the rabid thrusts, the bluster and blabber, the eyeball looks, and ferocious threats, I think of the steam engine! In my mind, even today, there is no ferocious, powerful, robust, beast, like the steam engine of yesterday. Even…
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.