The advertisement was huge and attractive. It talked about a waterproofing job the company could undertake that would guarantee my terrace would not leak the next monsoon. I liked the advertisement. I rang the number. I hated the voice. “Hello!” I said, “I saw your advertisement in the housing magazine,…
Rowing with Both Oars..!
Most of us spend a greater part of our lives worrying about things not going right. But did just worrying about a situation ever change anything? Did it make a child come home sooner? Or a test score higher? Did it put money in your pocket? Or a ring on…
If You Were a Sweeper..!
An ambitious priest I once knew had only one ambition, not to change people for the better, but to become a bishop, and when year after year his attempts at becoming one failed, he spoke to me about demonic forces that kept his ambition at bay. “No sir,” I told…
The Greatest Story Ever Told..!
‘And where did the greatest story ever told take place?’ I asked the audience of businessmen and their wives who’d come to celebrate with a Christmas dinner? ‘Not in a manger,’ I told them, ‘but in the realms of heaven where a worried and frustrated God looked down at a…
Rash Driving and the Government..!
A few years ago, the Supreme Court felt that the two years imprisonment meted out for causing death due to rash driving was ‘grossly inadequate’. Before agreeing I would like to define what the police believe is rash and negligent driving, and what actually happens on the road when an…
Reach Out to the Wounded..!
Very often I hear from some friend or relative that either they or someone in the family has been struck by a fatal disease, “But don’t tell anyone!” they tell me. I always wonder why they don’t want to tell others, and have come to the conclusion they feel the…
India Could Have Won..!
India could have won, despite losing the World Cup final! What an opportunity they had of winning the hearts of millions throughout the world if they had only displayed grace and big heartedness when they lost. What was shown by them was a crude, crass and churlish display of being…
Today Dear I Didn’t..!
Many years ago a friend of mine who I’ve lost touch with, was planning to get married, “She should be a working woman,” he said very definitely. “Why?” I asked, “I’m sure you’re doing well, why do you need her to go out and work?” “For her sake,” he said….
Do You See A Child Inside?
People donate for the blind, give generously towards old age homes and orphanages, but it is difficult having them part so liberally with their money towards charities or NGOs who work for the mentally challenged. I pondered on this as I drove back that evening: I’d seen the sterling work…
A Porter at a Funeral…!
Normally at a funeral I come prepared to see emotionally drained relatives, unconcerned bystanders and a dead body that looks like it has had enough with all on earth including the grieving relatives. But I came out of this funeral charged, relieved and happy! Most priests conduct a funeral service…
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.