Many years ago, just out of college, I worked in my father’s company as a salesman. There’s one lesson I learnt in sales, I’ve never forgotten, and that was to never allow the customer to feel that you ne
Wednesday, 29th October, 2025
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Bob’s Banter
I'd never been one to visit the sick and always felt my wife, a doctor, did enough visiting at her hospital for both of us; but this time I had to go. He was an old man, well into his eighties and I had always
This morning I spent the better part of an hour with a friend of mine discussing whether I should take upon myself certain responsibilities: He was quite insistent that I serve on a particular board and I, know
There I was in the bathroom, sometime back with a screwdriver in my hand and a pair of pliers getting the soap tray fixed. I worked hard and as I did, I wondered how my wife had managed to get me to do it. Most
“Start with his right hand!” the Roman officer must have jeered to the soldier carrying nails to be driven through the hands and feet of Jesus, on a Good Friday two thousand years ago.And as the horrible so
It’s not often I reach out to others for help, but I remember the time I did: It was the day, when I buckled under the weight of carrying too heavy a load, not just that, but being thought of as someone who c
“Who’s this?” I asked my friend as I entered his house and saw a disheveled boy sitting in his living room.“My son!”“Hi,” I said and watched as the young fellow stared at me then looked around, ra
The Dean of the American university looked up with dismay at what his secretary was telling him, “That could spell doom for our universities!” he whispered.“Yes sir, especially as most of our fees come fr
The only agenda the opposition parties have for the 2024 elections is to bring down Modi! That’s all and no more!This is not going to win elections, as people wonder what will happen if they do win. Will they
A few years ago, a close friend of mine brought along a painting by a great painter. Over a century old it looked dull and listless and certain places patchy. "Could you get those sections touched up?" asked my
A few years ago, when Pluto, the stray I’d adopted was alive, I walked into his room: He lay on his back, all four legs in the air. I looked at his face, his eyes were shut and as I peered closely, I could ha
Yesterday I opened the paper to find right there on the front page, another rape in the outskirts of Mumbai. Sadly, the papers also reported that the girl was out with her boyfriend, insinuating that the girl s
At a talk I gave last night in South Mumbai, someone asked me at dinner what I thought of the disqualification of Rahul. I replied that I looked at democracy as a competitive race, in which the best man or woma
The auditors of the country, who are very powerful people and oversee how public money is spent by the ones who govern, in my imagination, pursed their lips while the government official sat in front of them.
With attacks on poor Rahul worsening by the day, in my very vivid imagination I see the Congress think tank putting on their thinking caps and pondering the best solution to the nightmare brought about by their
Many years back while in business for my father, an interior designer, we would get a contract for the home of the managing director or chairman of a big company. Now in all probability I had already visited hi
Something I love to nibble on are cashew nuts! My children and my wife know I love the dry fruit and every once in a while, present me a packet of the same, and for me it is like heaven that day before I finish
It may come as a surprise to many, as some leaders clamour for a national language, that both the US and also the UK have no national language. In fact, until the 19th century, the English language was not seen
Many years ago, while still a bachelor I was invited to the home of a friend who'd just got married."But you're just married!" I said, knowing the evening would be more of drinking and loud talk, "You need to s
With three distasteful incidents of fellow countrymen peeing on their fellow passengers while flying, I should have been a little more prepared before I ventured on my air travel. The wife was the first to wave
