The last thing you’d think while traveling abroad is to hear much about your country, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear this huge, strapping Irishman who was chatting with me at a pub, knowing much about India, but a lot of it focussed on the hate campaigns that the…
Just As I Am..!
Billy Graham is dead. The man who was revered by every American president, who vied to have him at their Inaugurals, died a few years ago at the grand old age of ninety-nine. Once while visiting Chicago, I had gone over to the Billy Graham Museum, and with all the…
There’s A Tomorrow, After the Rain..!
Dark, overcast skies greet you as you look out, and the incessant sound of the heavy downpour going on for days fills you with melancholy! You look down, it’s water everywhere! Pouring from the skies, out of drains, onto roads, out of gutters, into homes and gushing and rushing with…
The Guilty Will Not Be Spared…!
How reassuring it was to hear the Chief Minister of Maharashtra say in a firm voice that the guilty who were involved in the running over and killing of Kaveri Nakhwa, ‘will not be spared and the next day bulldozers were sent to break down the portions of the bar…
Stick Your Neck Out..!
A family stood near a roller coaster ride. Each one had a different look. The teenage son looked at the cars coasting around with glee; he was just waiting, I could make out for his share of fun; the mother looked a little worried and the father was grinning till…
Your Useless Wooden Apples..!
We all carry wooden apples, and I wonder what your wooden apples are? Before you begin to wonder what I’m talking about, read this lovely story. There once was a happy monkey wandering the jungle, eating delicious fruit when hungry, and resting when tired. One day he came upon a…
We’re Lucky We Know English..!
I heard two of the speeches in the Lok Sabha, by the two brilliant and articulate lady MPs from Bengal and even as I listened at their wonderful mastery of the English language, I could see many confused faces of other MPs even as I knew it was being translated…
When Confronted with Fear..!
Though there are fears untold and stern Confronting me on my way Willingly still would I go, not turn; For God walks besides me each day! On a bright Sunday morning a little fellow was on his way for a picnic with his mother. Soon the sights and sounds of…
My Collapsible Coffee Kettle..!
Now I’m here in Scotland, but packed deep in my bag is my collapsible kettle so I can have my coffee every morning. I be one who likes my jug of coffee in the morning, and when I say jug I mean jug not mug, and then life’s good and…
Raise the Boat not the River…!
Have just seen the Falkirk Wheel today while driving through Scotland. The Falkirk Wheel opened in 2002 replaced a flight of 11 locks that once allowed boats from the Union Canal down to the level of the Forth & Clyde, more than 100 feet below. Once weary travellers had a…
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.