This happened a few years ago, when as the chairman of my colony, the doorbell rang, and a watchman stood outside my door. It was two in the morning. “Drunk girl on one of the building’s staircases, sir!” he said. I called out to my daughter to come with me. 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.
Embracing Each Other..!
A few years ago I watched the movie ‘Mr and Mrs Iyer’ on the small screen and loved every moment of Aparna Sen’s movie. The scene I loved best is when the rioters enter the bus in search of Muslims; I watched with tears of joy Mrs Iyer quickly shoving…
Being Still, Before the Kill…!
As I had planned to start the writing of my latest book this morning, my mind was initially feverish with plots and impressive beginnings for the first chapter. It was like hundreds of little characters jumping into my head stamping their feet, waving their hands and vying for attention, and…
Enjoying our Joy..!
My wife, a medical doctor, is quite strict about the sweets I’m allowed to have, and when she does give me permission, laughs as I take it, sit on my favourite rocking chair, take one bite at a time and relish the delicacy! “Why are you closing your eyes?” she…
Starts With A Lil’ Scratch..!
There was a ruckus going on downstairs, screaming and yelling with some choice words thrown in for effect. I didn’t bother going to see what was happening; I was busy with the morning papers. “Our neighbour’s really furious!” said my wife coming into the room. “With us?” I asked hoping…
Bringing Them to the ‘Exchange’..!
Something I see very often is the ‘holier than thou’ attitude we possess. To some who are proud of this so-called righteousness and look down on others, Jesus said in Luke 18: 10-14: 10 Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by…
More Than Tears Needed..!
The compassion that you see in the kindhearted is God’s compassion: he has given it to them to protect the helpless……… …… Sri Ramakrishna. Maybe, as the world gets divided in its views on both the Israeli war and the Ukraine war, we need to start feeling deeply for innocent…
Fear and The Mumbai Coastal Road..!
Many decades ago while in my teens I loved taking the double- decker bus from the city, run up the stairs to the upper deck, rush to the front seat, and enjoy a glorious ride to the Mumbai suburbs. As night set in, I would put the front glass pane…
Fighting Fair in the Bedroom…!
Most of the nastiest fights take place not on battlefields or war zones, but within a bedroom. Fights, which are mainly words, and I’m not going to talk about fist fights or slaps or blows because perpetrators of those methods need to be shamed in public and have no place…
History and Heritage Erased..!
And now that the elections are over, I was happy to hear the elected representatives are eager to get down to work, “We have so much to do!” sighed a newly elected representative, “First I want to rename the street I live on after my father, the chowk at the…
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.