It was reindeers and santas, Christmas trees and decorations, all in the month of November as I travelled through the Philippines a few years ago. The whole country was in a festive mood! Shops and malls lit up, discount sales and bargains, choirs singing carols, and old men employed as…


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.