Speak the World’s Language..!
It may come as a surprise to many, as some leaders clamour for a national language, that both the US and also the UK have no national language. In fact, until the 19th century, the English language was not seen as a unifying force in the UK, as majorities in…
The Law and Us..!
Living in a housing society has it’s upsides and downsides, and somehow with the use of the law and a strict committee, people more or less learn to live with each other. A few months ago, I was told a neighbour was going to join two flats, one upstairs and…
It’s Not the Taj..!
As I hear about names of cities being changed left, right and centre I see members of the heritage committee, “This building and this and this and this!” exclaim members of the heritage committee as they walk down the roads of a city anywhere in the country. “But we don’t…
Being Secular and the Supreme Court..!
‘Be secular: Supreme Court on PIL for ban on parties with religious link’ TOI, 1st Feb “What’s the news in India?” asked my American friend, as I read an Indian newspaper in an airport in America. “A Supreme Court judge has asked a petitioner to be secular!” I said. “Ssshhh!”…
BBC Ban and Barbed Barriers..!
Many, many decades ago, when I was around twelve, a cousin of mine, a medical student from the prestigious medical college in Vellore, presented me with, “An Area of Darkness” by Naipaul! I read it and a little later found that the book had been banned by the then Indian…
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.