New Cut-Off..!
Yesterday, as my car passed a liquor shop near Fort in Bombay, a notice in bold letters caught my eye: ONLY THOSE ABOVE 25 MAY BUY LIQUOR. I laughed. At eighteen, a youngster may help change the government. But for another seven years, apparently, he cannot be trusted to choose…
Light Diyas for the King..!
A constitution replaces a king. But oh, how we love a king. We tell the country to ‘light diyas on his birthday’, and praise him high and low. And then we say we are a democracy, wave little flags, hold elections and proudly display our inked fingers. Then, the moment…
Half a Million Gmail Frauds..!
I just read a piece of news that the Gujarat Police have uncovered a network involving more than five hundred thousand fake Gmail accounts. Great job, Gujarat Police! Half a million fake accounts is no small achievement. It requires intelligence, patience and the ability to distinguish between a real person…
India’s Angry Uncles..!
Our Prime Minister recently at a college gathering where he had been invited to speak, compared those who constantly question his government to naraaz fufas, the permanently upset uncles at a family gathering. I immediately imagined one such Indian gathering where an uncle sat in a corner wearing the expression…
The British Are Coming Back..!
“The British are coming back! The British are coming back!” The frightened cry travels through villages, election meetings and television studios. “Where are they?” asks an alarmed citizen. “Have their ships entered Mumbai harbour?” “No!” “Have British soldiers landed?” “No!” “Has the Queen returned?” “She is dead.” “Then who is…
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.