On this Republic Day, as we salute and celebrate the making of the Constitution of India, I remember the 2001 earthquake, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, where many tall buildings fell, some of them face down like a pack of cards. The reason for the fall? Weak foundations! Today as loftier and…
Wrong Message..!
A procession by a majority community into a minority neighbourhood, stone pelting by foolish residents, and the next day bulldozer retaliation by authorities, demolishing shops on the same street with the excuse of encroachments, spoiled the otherwise peaceful consecration of the Ram Mandir. Tit for tat, right? But when the…
From Sadness to Strength..!
This happened many years ago. The old lady sat in the room sobbing. The old man, her husband, a retired army major, stared straight ahead. They had just lost their son in a motor- bike accident. I sat holding her hand, there was nothing I could say; the grief was…
An Acceptance of Hypocrisy..!
On one hand we have Donald Trump, from the White House walking to a church clutching a Bible in his outstretched hand for all to see, then we see the same man accused of the most perverted sexual assaults. And yet to the Bible belt Christians in America and even…
Are We Becoming Like Bozo?
Each state in our country is trying to force a division among the people by insisting on the local language taking prominence. Shop boards have to be displayed in regional languages, and now school studies too. As this happens a nation is getting divided and as English is pushed back,…
Temple Talk..!
No, it’s not the Ayodhya temple I’m writing about today, though there’s a faint possibility that all the temple talk going on around could have influenced my thoughts. The temple I’m writing about is the one in Jerusalem, built to the almighty God, but a God, who was specific about…
Breaking News Hangover..!
This may never happen but a part of my imagination hopes that one day I will be hospitalised for this, so here goes: “There’s something wrong!” I shout as I pick up my newspapers from the gate, as I do every morning. “What’s wrong?” asks the wife. “I have been…
Childhood Friendships are Forever…!
Friendships made in childhood are invaluable, but quite often I come across old acquaintances who’ve done well in life, not interested in meeting childhood friends who life has dealt with less favourably. An uncle of mine told me an incident of how when he was a high-ranking officer, he had…
Don’t Judge, Without Knowing..!
A car was honking behind mine, “Let him pass!” I told my driver, and my driver quite reluctantly gave way. I smiled as I remembered a story about a doctor who was called one evening for an urgent surgery for a little boy. He answered the call, changed his clothes,…
Blinded by the Wrong Progress..!
What is it that is blinding our people? A bridge that stretches out into the sea, tunnels, metros and bullet trains that cut short travel time and that speak of a new India, equal to the west. They think they see progress. But is it? In my recent visit to…
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.