Very often we make a god out of a guru or priest and feel disappointed and even lose our beliefs when they fall. Many, many years ago as a child I used to sit in church and like all youngsters fidget, look around and do everything except listen to the…
If You Think You are Beaten..!
Had visited an art exhibition the other day and as usual stared at all the modern art on the walls without understanding head or tail of what the artist was trying to say. I wandered outside and walked over to a pavement artist; something caught my attention, “How much?” I…
Happy Father’s Day..!
Every morning as I sit in my little garden and ponder on what to write, I look at the little blue collapsible stool on which I place my newspapers and remember my father. Today, on Father’s Day, I specially thought of him, because it was two days before he died…
Enid Blyton and Kipling..!
Racists! That’s what the two have been branded as! Two writers, Enid Blyton and Rudyard Kipling, who shaped our formative years, both in reading and in the unleashing of childhood imagination, and who today, are not there to defend themselves have been flagged as racists by a charity called English…
Hush..!
‘Those who seek to satisfy the mind of man by hampering it with ceremonies and music and affecting charity and devotion have lost their original nature..’ Zhuangzi The lovely, agile and nimble steps of a ballerina as she glides across the stage, the plaintive, doleful strains of a saxophone, the…
Protest is a Right..!
‘Protesting without arms is a fundamental right and not a terrorist activity’ Delhi Hight Court Even as the high court gives citizens of our country the right to protest, I do believe that the greatest gift a leader can gift himself or herself, are people who have the freedom to…
Hey! Let’s Finish the Job..!
Just read that the Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express would soon be reaching four hours faster! All this by building a wall along the railway tracks between Mumbai and Surat, which would allow the train to travel faster, as it wouldn’t need to slow down for people crossing the tracks. ‘Let’s get…
Brown, Barren, Bruised and Broken..!
There was a brown, barren patch of land behind my home. “It looks like the Sahara Desert!” I used to say as nothing grew there, and then overnight it’s become green. A few drops of rain, a few peals of thunder and the brown earth has yielded to roots that…
Trained to be Perfect..!
A butcher watching over his shop is really surprised when he sees a dog coming inside the shop. He shoos him away. But later, the dog is back again. So he goes over to the dog and notices it has a note in its mouth. He takes the note and…
Take The Day Off..!
One of the first jobs I worked at was as a salesman in my father’s company. Sales is a tough line if ever there is one, but the advantage I had was having my father as a boss. It was like an athlete having a personal coach, for that was…
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.