Went out of the city two days ago, and as I entered the fancy hotel where I was put up, I was told by the manager, “Sir, you have been given a super deluxe room!” “Thank you,” I said, quite impressed by the way the ‘super’ was stressed by the…
A Bigger Fool than the Fool..!
The only certainty of life is death. And yet most of us continue living as if death will never visit us. We do not prepare ourselves for it and live as if we are going to live forever. A little girl lay dying and she was afraid. Her friend, the…
Ease the Pounding of my Heart.!
Many years ago, much before the invention of the cell phone, there were many moments you could have a break. Take traveling in a local train; it was so different! You jumped into the compartment, got a seat for yourself if you were lucky, and then as the carriages rolled…
Safe Landing through Human Angels..!
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…
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.