Ceremonial Power, Colonial Palaces..!
Some years ago, I had the privilege—or perhaps the irony—of being accommodated in a guest house inside the Rashtrapati Bhavan compound. Yes, the President’s house. It was just one of those rare opportunities that came my way. I woke up the next morning to the sight of peacocks strolling past…
Why Only Him?
So, I read the news today, and lo and behold—our honourable Supreme Court had taken suo motu action. Yes, that Latin phrase we all pretend to understand and nod at solemnly as if we were wearing black coats and quoting from legal files. Apparently, it means the court woke up…
Bridges Going Nowhere…!
“Interesting sculpture,” said a friend a year ago, as we drove past the Gokhale Bridge in Andheri, Mumbai, while pointing to the long cement arm reaching out dramatically into thin air, seven feet above the road, like some Olympian gymnast frozen mid-vault. “That’s no sculpture,” I muttered. “That’s a bridge.”…
Stop Playing in the Sandpit…!
The ceasefire was announced a few days ago, but looks like we’re still playing in the sandpit of war. Yes, the sandpit, that noisy little patch where toddlers toss sand, build wobbly castles, and fight imaginary wars with plastic shovels. Only difference? Our sandpit has TV studios, hashtags, and anchors…
Heroes in Uniform or Just Uniforms?
We’re brought up on Hollywood movies showing brave firemen sliding down poles, racing to their gleaming engines, sirens wailing, and gallantly charging into burning buildings to rescue helpless kittens and terrified tenants. And here in Mumbai? Ah, dream on, my friend, dream on! Yesterday, a fire broke out in a…
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.