This year at the Christmas fairs, was it my imagination that made me notice something unusual? Instead of drifting lazily from stall to stall, shoppers were huddled around the cake counters with the seriousness of detectives examining evidence. “Does this cake have enough nuts?” one auntie asked, tapping the box…
No Invite for Rahul..!
No invite for Rahul at the Putin Banquet last week. The news channels buzzed like bees around a honey pot, reporters breathlessly repeating the same line as though they had discovered a new planet. No invitation. Shocking. Mind boggling. But then a thought crept up quietly and tapped me on…
Peace and chalk Piece…!
There was a time when peace meant something beautiful. It meant neighbours chatting at the gate. It meant children playing cricket without worrying about which side of the street they lived on. It meant laughter floating out of living rooms and chai shared between people with different ideas and beliefs….
Just an Indigo Thought..!
Chaos reigns in the skies. Delayed flights, stranded passengers, cancelled schedules, and angry crowds waving boarding passes like protest flags. As I watch this spectacle, a thought tiptoes into my mind. India has the maximum number of road accidents in the world. And many of these accidents happen because drivers…
Preparations for Christmas..!
There was a time when the first of December arrived with the mellow voice of Jim Reeves singing “Silver Bells” or “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Suddenly the neighbourhood stirred. Curtains were pushed aside, children peeped out, mothers smiled knowingly, and fathers nodded that it was time to pull out…
Are We Back at School?
How quickly we grow up and imagine we have stopped behaving like children.But all it takes is a little observation and suddenly the entire political landscape looks like the school playground we all once knew so well. Do you remember those days?The strong fellow in class. The one with bulging…
Not Losing Any Sleep..!
The headlines screamed that the dollar had breached the ninety-rupee mark! Just a year ago it was around eighty-four rupees to a dollar. Six rupees in a few months. Then my eyes travelled to the next column where the Chief Economic Advisor calmly announced that he was not losing any…
The Redevelopment Dream..!
There is a magical moment in the life of every old housing society when its tired walls suddenly begin to glow like gold. Paint does not do the glowing. Nor does mopping the staircase or replacing the broken tube lights. No, the glow begins when someone whispers the word redevelopment….
Nothing’s Different This Christmas..!
There’s nothing different this Christmas season. Two thousand years ago a baby was born in a stable, wrapped in cloth, placed in a manger. Yet the king trembled. Soldiers were sent out into the night with swords drawn and eyes searching for the child. Babies were slaughtered in Bethlehem because…
Setting Negativity Aside.. !
The Prime Minister spoke a few days ago, standing tall and confident at the start of the winter session, and he asked the opposition to set their negativity aside. It sounded wonderful. It sounded noble. I almost clapped. Almost. Because before anyone can set negativity aside, one must first understand…
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.