Many, many decades ago while on my grandmother’s knee I was told a story of how her son, my uncle an air force pilot found his plane was on fire, “He jumped out!” whispered my grandmother, “and angels brought him safely down to earth!” It was much later I learnt…
Accidents and the Police..!
The Supreme Court felt a few years ago that the two years imprisonment now meted out for causing death due to rash driving is ‘grossly inadequate’. I agree, but would like to define what the police believe is rash and negligent driving, and what actually happens on the road when…
Born with no Ears..!
Today I shudder to see more and more photographs and pictures of donations and acts of giving. “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing!’ say the holy scriptures. But do we listen? All I see are photos of acts of giving, circulated to everybody…
Loose and Unprotected..!
I remember seeing this ad for a motorbike, with a handsome hunk riding it. What a bike, what a machine, what a guy, what a helmet. I looked at the ad. At the four stroke state of the art engineering marvel, that responded to full throttle by breaking through performance…
Throw Out the Other Slipper..!
Once when my wife had gone to New York to see our daughter, I was on my own, and quite often ordered food from hotels nearby. One morning it was spicy vadas which I’d got out of bed dreaming about! The hotel sends me a lot of sambar, which from…
Switch the Worry Channel..!
Here’s something for you, and it’s not an April Fool’s Day joke, learn to switch channels! Have you noticed that telling yourself or others not to worry doesn’t work. The only way to break it is to replace it. Whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think…
The Whole Nine Yards on Easter…!
Easter gently nudges me to think about a robber entering paradise; a bandit, so wicked, only a death penalty could justify the magnitude of his crimes. And yet, that Easter day in heaven, a gasp must have gone up within the Pearly Gates as they saw this brigand, laughing and…
Easter and Democracy..!
What has Easter to do with democracy, you ask, a furrow on your brow, and a look of slight annoyance. We hear the United States and Germany reacting to Kejriwal’s arrest and our standard reply in telling the outside world not to interfere in our internal affairs and we nod,…
What’s Good Friday, Ma?
“Ma,” asked the little girl, scampering after her mother, “What’s Good Friday?” “It’s the day Jesus died on the cross!” said the mother as she smiled at her daughter’s widening eyes, knowing what the next question would be. “If Jesus died on the cross, how can it be a good day ma?”…
Your Right of Way..!
Something I’ve noticed abroad, and hardly ever here, are people moving aside to give another the right of way. It could be anyone standing on the aisle inside a store, and when someone walks towards them, he or she doesn’t have to edge past, but the person in their path…
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.