The Hugger-In-Chief..!
Ever been hugged when you didn’t want to be? You know the kind—when a distant uncle at a wedding suddenly clamps you in a bear hug, and you emerge gasping for air, smelling of his aftershave for the next three weeks. Now imagine that uncle is a bearded old Indian…
A Happy State of Emergency..!
Fifty years ago, Mrs Indira Gandhi did something absolutely shocking. No, not talk in better English than the BBC anchor who interviewed her, but The Emergency. She declared it, imposed it, and for 21 months, India was in lockdown before lockdowns became fashionable. Newspapers were gagged, politicians were jailed, and…
Mocked for Speaking English..!
So, there I was, sipping a hot cup of cutting chai outside my local teashop, when I heard someone laugh. Not at a joke, or a meme, or even at a politician’s promise — no, someone was being laughed at for speaking English! “Angrez ban raha hai!” they snorted, as…
Flexi-Bribe and Flexi-Truth..!
Somewhere between the EMI for your fridge and the EMI for your scooter, corrupt Gujarat government officers have added one more installment option—bribes! Yes, in what could only be described as a jaw-dropping entry for the “You-Can’t-Make-This-Stuff-Up” awards, The Times of India reported that government officials in Ahmedabad are kindly…
Grounding the Dreamliner..!
So now, NDTV says, they’re talking about grounding all Boeing Dreamliners flying in India. Yes, the same plane that evokes dreamy sighs from frequent flyers and mild envy from budget travelers. And while one part of me says, “Yes, safety first,” the other part—a slightly more cynical fellow who sits…
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.