One day, while standing on the balcony of a tall building, I looked down and saw a funeral taking place in a cemetery. From where I stood, I also saw next to the same graveyard, a football field, where a game was in progress. It was a strange feeling, seeing…
What Chai do you Serve?
The white bearded chief of the village and his bald deputy were at it again; discussing matters of great importance for which they walked out of earshot of all the villagers who actually were not too keen to know what they were discussing because what they were discussing was what…
Offering to Help but Not Wanting to..!
At the wedding of one my daughter’s, many friends and relatives offered to help, “Bob, if there’s any help you need, just ask!” Being in a naughty mood I asked one of them, “In what way can you help?” “Any way Bob!” “Well,” I said, “Most things are arranged,…
Be Still and Get Things Done..!
Something that all religious leaders, prophets and spiritual people always did and do, is to retire to places where they are alone and where they can be still. We see this with Buddha, with Christ and I doubt there’s even a single spiritual person who does not do this today,…
Teach Your Children Well..!
Today is Children’s Day! We’re still in the middle of Diwali and as I hear the sound of crackers burst mostly by children and their parents, at timings which the High Courts and other courts have said no to, I wonder how well our children are growing up. “Dad, you’ve…
Demanding a Better Place..!
When I go to hear a friend or colleague speak, or attend a service, I love sitting in as inconspicuous a place as possible. There are many reasons for doing so, one, because I’ve come for the specific purpose of listening to someone speak, and secondly my thoughts are not…
Are You a Mordecai?
When I was in Chicago a few years ago and near Wheaton University, I asked my hosts whether I could visit a museum in memory of my hero, who I believe is the greatest evangelist we’ve known in the twentieth century, Billy Graham. As I reverently walked round the little…
Somebody’s Watching You..!
A few years ago I felt saddened as I read that a religious organization who profess to work among the poor, the destitute and the needy and who run a tourist hotel in Delhi had cancelled the booking of a delegation traveling for the Leprosy Forum on the grounds that…
The Moments Between…!
Even as I see most of us jumping from one activity to another, I wonder what ever happened to the moments in between. When I teach students how to write a play, I remind them that it is not just dialogue that makes a play, but the reaction from the…
The Girl on the Cover..!
It was a sad picture I saw on the cover of a magazine lying on my table; it showed a little girl crying because she was hungry! Can you imagine how she must have been feeling when the photographer took the picture? How her stomach must have been groaning, reminding…
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.