How to Become a Bore..!
There is a strange epidemic sweeping across drawing rooms, coffee shops, family lunches, office corridors, and unfortunately, even national television studios. It is called Opinion Diarrhoea. The uncontrollable urge to give one’s opinion on everything under the sun, moon, stars, and possibly on things happening in galaxies we have never…
Stop Performing to be Loved…!
Over the last week I have been spending time with people who were part of my growing up years. Schoolmates. College mates. Church friends. Choir companions. People who once shared classrooms, benches, hymn books, secrets, and occasionally punishment. I did something unusual. I kept quiet. I listened. I watched. And…
The Silent Piano..!
At home my piano is a silent one. It stands there in the sitting room, polished, upright, respectable. Visitors notice it immediately. They nod approvingly and say things like old world charm, classic taste, elegance. The piano accepts the compliments quietly, knowing full well that admiration without use is a…
Singing for a Performance, Or…!
Last year I was given two invitations. One, to sing for a grand choir conducted by the legendary Zubin Mehta, and the other, from a small church that needed a baritone voice. I remember sitting and thinking about it for a while. Zubin Mehta! The very name carries prestige, glory,…
Eight Minutes Late..!
The bus was supposed to arrive at 6:15. It turned up at 6:23. Eight minutes late. Eight minutes in which I transformed from a calm citizen to a pacing tiger outside a zoo cage. I looked at my watch, scowled at the road, and mentally composed angry letters to 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.