Suddenly my very humble index finger has started getting proud. All these years, it’s been an obedient little fellow — pointing out directions, poking elevator buttons, stirring sugar into tea, and occasionally wagging at my dog when he chewed my slippers. But this week, with the Bihar and Mumbai municipal…
Death in the Skies..!
It was with deep sadness I read of the death of an aged Indian cardiologist while flying on Qatar Airways. A man who had spent his life saving hearts, lost his own somewhere in the sky. The reason? A meal mix-up. He had pre-ordered a vegetarian meal — something most…
I Take the Blame..!
Today, the Prime Minister lands in Navi Mumbai to inaugurate a gleaming new international airport. Cameras click, drones hum, and television anchors shout themselves hoarse describing how “under his leadership” a dream has taken flight. Later in the day, he descends into the city to inaugurate the new underground metro…
Finding ‘Landing Ground’..!
It was a quote that made me smile this morning. “We have to find landing ground for our trade discussions,” said our External Affairs Minister, reported The Times of India. Now, in my vivid imagination—one that has a life of its own—I see the weary minister flying to yet another…
Our No Touch Cricket Policy..!
It’s not the United Nations or NATO that’s in panic this week—it’s the world’s cricket boards! All over the globe, from Melbourne to Manchester, from Kingston to Karachi, political leaders have been receiving the strangest messages from their cricket teams. “Please don’t interfere with India’s foreign policies!” pleaded the West…
Be Still, Knowing…!
There are days when my fingers hover over the keyboard, the screen stares back blankly, and I tell myself, “Be still.” But I smile even as I say it, because I know “stillness” isn’t about sitting motionless like a marble statue in a yoga class that’s run out of music….
Fake News and Official Truth..!
Strange isn’t it? We live in an age where the word news has become the most misleading of all words. News once meant the truth. You bought your morning paper or switched on your TV set, and you knew what you were getting was facts. Uncomfortable sometimes, yes, but truth…
Trapeze Artist Dies, Psychologists Called..!
It was a tragic evening in Bautzen, Germany. A twenty-seven-year-old trapeze artist, flying through the air, missed her hold and fell to her death in front of horrified children and their parents. The big top went silent. The gasps of awe turned into cries of horror. And then—what surprised me…
Gandhi Jayanti, Dasara and Democracy..!
Today has two celebrations—Gandhi Jayanti and Dasara—both point us to the same lesson: the fight for freedom and the triumph of good over evil. But before we burst firecrackers or garland Gandhi’s statues, let’s pause and ask a small but piercing question: What did the Mahatma actually fight for? “Freedom!”…
Eight Minutes Late..!
The bus was supposed to arrive at 6:15. It turned up at 6:23. Eight minutes late. Eight minutes in which I transformed from a calm citizen to a pacing tiger outside a zoo cage. I looked at my watch, scowled at the road, and mentally composed angry letters to the…
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.