Few things make a traveller more anxious than a half open suitcase. You stand there staring at it as if it might answer back. Have I packed too little or have I packed too much? Do I really need three shirts for two days or will two shirts bravely manage…
Simply Rename..!
The guardian minister for Mumbai recently visited King Edward Memorial Hospital, lovingly and universally known as KEM. A place where people go because they are ill, worried, frightened, and hoping that someone in authority has thought about things like beds, doctors, medicines, and queues that move faster than a funeral…
Wrong Questions, Wrong Solutions..!
The municipal elections in Mumbai are over, the banners have been taken down, the loudspeakers have finally fallen silent, and the city has returned to its favourite sport: complaining. I am part of a WhatsApp group of reasonably educated, well read, English speaking citizens who proudly discuss world affairs, stock…
From Politicians to Statesmen..!
Winning elections is exhilarating. Slogans work, crowds cheer, numbers add up, and victory music is played. It is a moment when every politician feels ten feet tall and slightly immortal. But once the fireworks fade and the garlands wilt, something far more serious quietly takes the stage. Power has been…
Why Only Greenland?
The courtroom of the International Court of Justice was unusually quiet that morning. Even the translators had stopped whispering into their microphones. The judge adjusted his glasses and looked down at the file, then up at the two Indian lawyers standing confidently before him. “You have filed a case of…
Herding Corporators into a Resort..!
There is something profoundly touching about the sight of elected representatives being escorted to a luxury resort, not for a holiday, not for reflection, but for safekeeping. It is democracy wrapped in room service. The people voted. The results came in. And immediately thereafter, the Shiv Sena winners from Shinde’s…
Welcome Back..!
There are moments in life when history, geography and blood pressure converge at one small counter. One such moment happened today for me, at the Mumbai airport. I had just finished a 15 hour flight from New York, and had expected a sour looking officer at immigration. The immigration officer…
How Great Is Our God..!
As I wrote Tsippy’s Story and watched it inch its way toward publication, I found myself forced to include a fact that could not be dodged or softened. The story demanded a Creator God. Not a vague force. Not a poetic metaphor. A Creator. One who actually made things. Galaxies….
Thick Chains We Cannot See..!
As I walk through New York, I notice the dogs. They stride along the pavements, chests puffed out, tails swinging like they pay property tax. Their expressions say, ‘look at where we live. Look at our skyline. Look at the Brooklyn Bridge. Look at traffic that actually respects lanes. Look…
Clapping for Scraps and Titbits..!
I must confess, the headline made me pause. It announced with great fanfare that Indians will no longer need a transit visa while changing flights in Germany. No more paperwork if your aircraft stops at Frankfurt or Munich and you merely walk from one gate to another. This was described…
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.