A few years ago, a close friend of mine brought along a painting by a great painter. Over a century old it looked dull and listless and certain places patchy. “Could you get those sections touched up?” asked my friend to the curator of one of the best art galleries…
Carpenter Without A Pen..!
The doorbell rang and I opened the door. “Carpenter!” said the middle aged man holding a measuring tape. “You want to change your door?” “Yes,” I said, “Three doors!” I watched as he pulled out the tape and held it against the first door, then placed the same tape at…
There’s A Story In the Crib: Tell It..!
It was reindeers and santas, Christmas trees and decorations, all in the month of November as I travelled through the Philippines a few years ago. The whole country was in a festive mood! Shops and malls lit up, discount sales and bargains, choirs singing carols, and old men employed as…
Old Boots, Shoes, and Christmas..!
Now, I’m not one to panic over small sounds coming out of nowhere, but these here voices were coming from boots and even a pair of shoes in my room, “Bob, write about us today please!” You don’t disobey shoes and boots considering they can bite, and bite quite a…
A Broken Voice for Christmas..!
“Now that you’ve retired ma what do you plan to do?” asked her children as she came back from work the last day at the office. “Join a choir!” exclaimed the mother. “When your father passed on the Lord took over and I have a song to sing for the…
Mumbai’s Protest Rally: A Return of Goodness..!
Contrary to what news reports say, it was not a mere twenty or twenty five thousand yesterday at the Mumbai protest rally at the historic August Kranti Maidan, there were at any given time nearly ten times the same number surging outside, unable to get in, extending right from the…
Too Young, Mr Ganguly?
Sourav Ganguly’s eighteen year old daughter, Sana, is said to have posted a message on Instagram, against the CAA. But loving father that he is, Sourav has said, that ‘she is too young a girl to know about Indian politics!’ And in that statement lies the snooty, snigger and smirks…
A Nation on Fire..!
“The country is on fire!” “I know, I know, I’ll douse the fire!” “Mamata says that instead of dousing the fire you are stoking it!” “Ah, you know she’s just a loudmouth!” “But now the country’s full of loudmouths!” “I’ll shut them up!” “With water cannons and tear gas? What’s…
Welcome the Unexpected..!
One morning I found my driver hadn’t come for work, because he was drunk, and I felt very angry about it. Angry, because I disliked my morning being ruined by the unexpected. We all hate anything unexpected, but quite often it’s during that unexpected time that strange things happen! A…
A Sad Santa Claus..!
It’s December, and as Christmas décor fills the world, I saw a Santa Claus, “Hey Santa!” I said to the sad looking Santa Claus standing near a mall, “You look a little sad, come on give us one of your Ho! Ho! Ho’s!” “Not up to it!” said Santa. “What’s…
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.