A Country Crippled by it’s Past..!
Quite often—no, delete that—very often, a good psychologist, especially the expensive kind who has a couch and not just a chair, goes deep into a patient’s past. “Tell me about your childhood,” they murmur soothingly, while you clutch a tissue and recall how someone snatched your lollipop in class three….
A Catastrophe is Not Bad Karma..!
Someone turned to me the other day and said with great philosophical finality, “Well, it was his karma, no?” The statement was in reference to a young student who had plunged to his death as a footbridge gave way in his town. Karma? Really? Not poor maintenance? Not substandard cables…
Learning the Local Language..!
Hey guys! Yes, you—with the raised fists and the angry slogans, thrashing that helpless commuter just because he couldn’t say, “Where’s the bus stop?” in your language. Here’s some breaking news: in just a matter of months, maybe even weeks, every man, woman, and chaiwala will carry a gadget that…
Heat Wave in Chicago..!
“There’s going to be a heat wave this weekend,” I was warned, as I leaned back into the cool embrace of an air-conditioned sofa in my Chicago home. I looked out of the window. The grass outside was green, the sun was generous, and I nodded gravely, as a responsible…
Not Just Another Masala Dosa..!
It was one of the strangest sights I’ve ever seen. No, not a politician paying his electricity bill, or a traffic cop refusing a bribe—though those would rank quite high on the “Miracles List.” This was something simpler. I was down South for a wedding. A grand affair. The kind…
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.