Ahmedabad, last week. A plane crashes. Catches fire. The horror unfolds in seconds. Two hundred and forty-one people perish in a flaming coffin. And one man—just one—jumps off before the inferno claims him. He doesn’t pray for the pilot to say something. Doesn’t wait for the safety card to start…
Wrecks and Our Ambitions..!
Sometimes, when the Wi-Fi is down at a seaside resort, and the coffee tastes suspiciously like punishment, I stare at the ocean and wonder if there’s more beneath the surface, and oddly enough, my thoughts sail straight to shipwrecks. Yes, shipwrecks. Not the ones caused by WhatsApp groups or political…
Spreading Myself Thick..!
Now that I’ve crossed the seven seas and a bit of turbulence to visit my children and grandchildren in the US, a strange thought tiptoes into my head: “How thin can I spread myself?” You see, the trip’s not just a ‘grandpa popping in for hugs and gifts’ routine. No…
You Can’t Be a Part-Time Father..!
Nope, I didn’t write this on Father’s Day. I waited. Like the real father should. Not for the cards, the badly drawn pictures, or the forwarded WhatsApp poems with piano music in the background. No, I waited for the noise to die down. For the digital parade to pass. And…
Why China..?
Just when I thought I’d figured out our foreign policy—a headline in today’s paper left me scratching what’s left of my head: Defence Minister Set to Visit China to Rebuild Ties. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for building bridges. But building one back to China, right after they…
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…
After Seeing Them Off..!
There’s a peculiar silence that follows a goodbye. It’s the kind that lingers in the air long after the honk of the cab has faded or the aircraft has vanished into the sky. A quiet emptiness that whispers with hope, ‘they’re on their way now.’ But what happens when that…
Resignations, Accountability, and You..!
Years ago, while still young, I owned a contracting firm. One morning, I got a call that one of my workers had fallen from the scaffolding. By the time I reached, he was gone. A life snuffed out before tea break. The police came. Looked around. Jotted notes in well-worn…
Servant Leader or Supreme Ruler?
It was like watching a low-budget remake of a despot’s courtroom drama—except this wasn’t set in some banana republic or fictional dictatorship. No, this bit of tragic theatre played out in the sterile, overworked corridors of a government hospital in Goa, where the stethoscope is mightier than the sword—except when…
Lower the Bribe Rate..!
A few days ago, while having my morning coffee, listening to the birds and flipping through the newspaper with one hand I nearly spat the hot brew on the crossword puzzle. A full-page article—yes, not an ad for designer tiles or discount flats—boldly proclaimed that builders in Mumbai were requesting…
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.