Winning elections is exhilarating. Slogans work, crowds cheer, numbers add up, and victory music is played. It is a moment when every politician feels ten feet tall and slightly immortal. But once the fireworks fade and the garlands wilt, something far more serious quietly takes the stage. Power has been…
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.
Why Only Greenland?
The courtroom of the International Court of Justice was unusually quiet that morning. Even the translators had stopped whispering into their microphones. The judge adjusted his glasses and looked down at the file, then up at the two Indian lawyers standing confidently before him. “You have filed a case of…
Herding Corporators into a Resort..!
There is something profoundly touching about the sight of elected representatives being escorted to a luxury resort, not for a holiday, not for reflection, but for safekeeping. It is democracy wrapped in room service. The people voted. The results came in. And immediately thereafter, the Shiv Sena winners from Shinde’s…
Welcome Back..!
There are moments in life when history, geography and blood pressure converge at one small counter. One such moment happened today for me, at the Mumbai airport. I had just finished a 15 hour flight from New York, and had expected a sour looking officer at immigration. The immigration officer…
How Great Is Our God..!
As I wrote Tsippy’s Story and watched it inch its way toward publication, I found myself forced to include a fact that could not be dodged or softened. The story demanded a Creator God. Not a vague force. Not a poetic metaphor. A Creator. One who actually made things. Galaxies….
Thick Chains We Cannot See..!
As I walk through New York, I notice the dogs. They stride along the pavements, chests puffed out, tails swinging like they pay property tax. Their expressions say, ‘look at where we live. Look at our skyline. Look at the Brooklyn Bridge. Look at traffic that actually respects lanes. Look…
Learn to Repair, Not Replace..!
My first car was a 1959 Fiat. When I bought it, it was already old enough to qualify for senior citizen benefits. I was in my late twenties and felt like royalty. A king does not question the age of his chariot. He only enjoys the fact that it moves,…
Clapping for Scraps and Titbits..!
I must confess, the headline made me pause. It announced with great fanfare that Indians will no longer need a transit visa while changing flights in Germany. No more paperwork if your aircraft stops at Frankfurt or Munich and you merely walk from one gate to another. This was described…
How Beautiful, the Snow..!
I watch from my window in the Pocono Mountains as the snow begins its slow descent. It does not fall. It performs. Each flake arrives like a well-rehearsed dancer, light on its feet, floating with confidence, absolutely certain it will be admired. And it is. Oh yes, it is. Snow…
Shutting Down a City..!
A political leader and Rajya Sabha member from Mumbai has proudly announced that his party can still shut down Mumbai in ten minutes. One wonders what exactly is being boasted about here. Mumbai is not a toy city, nor a private estate. It is a living, breathing organism of millions…
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.