Years ago, while still young, I owned a contracting firm. One morning, I got a call that one of my workers had fallen from the scaffolding. By the time I reached, he was gone. A life snuffed out before tea break. The police came. Looked around. Jotted notes in well-worn…
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.
Automatic Doors After They Are Dead..!
So, the Railways have announced—with the solemnity of a priest at a last rites service—that they’ll finally install automatic doors on Mumbai’s local trains. Not before the tragedy.Not to prevent it.But after four lives were crushed, mangled, and tossed aside like used tickets on a Mumbra platform. Only then did…
Servant Leader or Supreme Ruler?
It was like watching a low-budget remake of a despot’s courtroom drama—except this wasn’t set in some banana republic or fictional dictatorship. No, this bit of tragic theatre played out in the sterile, overworked corridors of a government hospital in Goa, where the stethoscope is mightier than the sword—except when…
Lower the Bribe Rate..!
A few days ago, while having my morning coffee, listening to the birds and flipping through the newspaper with one hand I nearly spat the hot brew on the crossword puzzle. A full-page article—yes, not an ad for designer tiles or discount flats—boldly proclaimed that builders in Mumbai were requesting…
The Angels Are Vexed..!
The angels were vexed. Not just annoyed. Vexed. An old English word that belongs to Shakespearean dialogue, but perfectly suited the mood in heaven this Sunday morning. Harps were untuned, wings were ruffled, and not a single angel felt like singing. It had started quite innocently. One of them, glanced…
Measure to Save Treasure..!
It was a heroic moment. Or so I thought. There I stood like some desi Hercules, staring at my treadmill. “Today,” I declared to myself, “you move!” The treadmill, however, stayed where it was, unimpressed by my proclamation and utterly unaware that it was about to be relocated from my…
Dying Before Knowing…!
Many years ago, while writing for the Asian Age, a paper that MJ Akbar owned, he wrote me a line I’ve never forgotten. “Never criticize anyone immediately after a tragedy.” A rare bit of editorial wisdom. And so, though every fibre in me wants to take a red pen dipped…
Hope to Meet Again..!
When we are called to part, it gives us inward pain… said the old hymn, which Jane hummed under her breath while standing at the gate, waving goodbye to a friend. She had come all the way from another city, bearing home-made pickles, her trademark laughter, and tales of their…
Listen to the Generals..!
My mother didn’t raise me on just verses from the scriptures or moral science textbooks. She also raised me on stories of her two brothers—one a top ranking officer who flew fighter jets with the Indian Air Force, and the other who led troops as a proud officer of the…
Stop the Witch Hunt..!
So Bangladesh has begun a trial against Hasina for mass murder. My first reaction? “Wait, wasn’t she in power just a few months ago?” And then it hit me—this is the new game in town. Not politics, not democracy, not elections, but revenge matches. Forget “building a better tomorrow,” it’s all…
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.