Bob’s Banter

  • Facing Digital Arrest..!
    Just read the news that a businessman lost fifty-eight crores through a clever “digital arrest.” Fifty-eight crores!But before we rush to blame the scamsters, maybe we should look at the man in the mirror,
  • Facing Your Little Goliaths..!
    In Chicago last month, I spent a lot of time with little Emory, my granddaughter. Every morning, before breakfast, she would climb onto my lap, point to my iPad, and insist, “Goliath!” That was her favourit
  • Trump, Peace and Us..!
    There are many who have misgivings about Donald Trump, but today, as we watch emotional reunions of hostages returning home, and nations embracing after decades of distrust, one can’t help but feel admiration
  • Clean Up! Clean Up!
    Every evening, as the sun used to dip and the day sighed its last breath, I used to hear little voices singing in chorus at my daughters’ homes: “Clean up! Clean up! Everybody, everywhere!”It’s a charmi
  • Now we have a new friend
    The Taliban!Yes, the same Taliban once described in international forums as terrorists, medieval-minded extremists, and enemies of women’s rights. Suddenly, they’re on our guest list, sipping tea, holding p
  • Death in the Skies..!
    It was with deep sadness I read of the death of an aged Indian cardiologist while flying on Qatar Airways. A man who had spent his life saving hearts, lost his own somewhere in the sky. The reason? A meal mix-u
  • Balance Your Work and Fun..!
    What I love seeing in the U.S. is the Friday afternoon traffic. No, not the angry honking, or the rush-hour jams we see here—but a parade of joy! Cars streaming out of town with bicycles hanging on their back
  • I Take the Blame..!
    Today, the Prime Minister lands in Navi Mumbai to inaugurate a gleaming new international airport. Cameras click, drones hum, and television anchors shout themselves hoarse describing how “under his leadershi
  • Finding ‘Landing Ground’..!
    It was a quote that made me smile this morning. “We have to find 'landing ground' for our trade discussions,” said our External Affairs Minister, reported The Times of India.Now, in my vivid imagination—o
  • Our No Touch Cricket Policy..!
    It’s not the United Nations or NATO that’s in panic this week—it’s the world’s cricket boards! All over the globe, from Melbourne to Manchester, from Kingston to Karachi, political leaders have been r
  • Trapeze Artist Dies, Psychologists Called..!
    It was a tragic evening in Bautzen, Germany. A twenty-seven-year-old trapeze artist, flying through the air, missed her hold and fell to her death in front of horrified children and their parents. The big top w
  • Eight Minutes Late..!
    The bus was supposed to arrive at 6:15. It turned up at 6:23. Eight minutes late. Eight minutes in which I transformed from a calm citizen to a pacing tiger outside a zoo cage. I looked at my watch, scowled at
  • Behave Like Winners..!
    It’s been a strange spectacle, isn’t it?Eleven men in blue who carry the hopes of a billion people on their shoulders, but when they walk the field in the Asian Cup, their behaviour reeks not of victors, bu
  • Three Young Men..!
    This morning, as I sipped my coffee and scanned the news, I nearly spilled my hot brew. There on the world stage, strutting about and shaping the destiny of millions, are three young men: Donald Trump at sevent
  • Don’t Want to be a Doctor..!
    The newspaper headline stared at me like an unblinking eye: “Boy with 99.99% ends life on day of departure to medical college.” A teenager from Chandrapur, Maharashtra, bright as a shooting star, ended his
  • Very Positive Talks..!
    Today nothing serious okay, just a fictitious tale!Ruby and Jai met in New York.Ruby’s country couldn’t care less what he said; Jai’s country counted each minute he spent with the other man. Finally, Jai
  • Swadeshi and My Maruti 800..!
    There’s something about the word Swadeshi that makes the chest swell and the voice quiver with patriotism. We picture Gandhi at his spinning wheel, khadi clothes fluttering, and villagers proudly making salt.
  • Visas, Tariffs and Doing Unto Others..!
    I sat this morning and saw headline after headline of India and Indians being targeted abroad.In America, Trump’s tariffs, visa upheavals and deportations hit businessmen and students. In England, placards sc
  • No One to Talk To..!
    Many years ago, my secretary, who used to travel by the good old suburban trains of Mumbai, told me stories of the strange therapy sessions that happened on the rails. Total strangers, wedged together on a wood
  • Crossover Doctors..!
    Let’s start with an imaginary neighbour of mine. One week she was treating patients with tiny sugar globules wrapped in tissue paper, the next she was prescribing antibiotics strong enough to bring down an el
Support The Morung Express.
Your Contributions Matter
Click Here