No, I wasnt on that Air-India flight that crashed, thank God. But yes, Ive flown Air-India often enough to feel Ive earned honorary wings — and maybe even a seatbelt buckle that doesnt work.For years, I remai
Saturday, 11th April, 2026
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Bob’s Banter
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It was St. Anthonys feast day the other day, and as I passed a church glowing with candles and filled with the fragrance of frankincense, I found myself pondering — How far can saints take me?Its a curious qu
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So, there I was, sipping a hot cup of cutting chai outside my local tea shop, when I heard someone laugh. Not at a joke, or a meme, or even at a politicians promise — no, someone was being laughed at for spea
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It was a bright morning in a village next to Malgudi, where the sun always rose on command and set only after checking in with the high command. And at the very edge of the village — just beyond the signboard
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Ahmedabad, last week.A plane crashes. Catches fire. The horror unfolds in seconds. Two hundred and forty-one people perish in a flaming coffin. And one man—just one—jumps off before the inferno claims him.H
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Sometimes, when the Wi-Fi is down at a seaside resort, and the coffee tastes suspiciously like punishment, I stare at the ocean and wonder if theres more beneath the surface, and oddly enough, my thoughts sail
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Now that Ive crossed the seven seas and a bit of turbulence to visit my children and grandchildren in the US, a strange thought tiptoes into my head: How thin can I spread myself?You see, the trips not just a g
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Nope, I didnt write this on Fathers Day. I waited. Like the real father should. Not for the cards, the badly drawn pictures, or the forwarded WhatsApp poems with piano music in the background. No, I waited for
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Just when I thought Id figured out our foreign policy—a headline in todays paper left me scratching whats left of my head: Defence Minister Set to Visit China to Rebuild Ties.Now dont get me wrong, Im all for
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Theres a peculiar silence that follows a goodbye. Its the kind that lingers in the air long after the honk of the cab has faded or the aircraft has vanished into the sky. A quiet emptiness that whispers with ho
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Years ago, while still young, I owned a contracting firm. One morning, I got a call that one of my workers had fallen from the scaffolding. By the time I reached, he was gone. A life snuffed out before tea brea
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So, the Railways have announced—with the solemnity of a priest at a last rites service—that theyll finally install automatic doors on Mumbais local trains.Not before the tragedy.Not to prevent it.But after
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It was like watching a low-budget remake of a despot's courtroom drama—except it took place not in some banana republic, but in the corridors of a government hospital in Goa. Their Health Minister, who seems
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Two days ago, while having my morning coffee, listening to the birds and flipping through the newspaper with one hand I nearly spat the hot brew on the crossword puzzle. A full-page article—yes, not an ad for
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When we are called to part, it gives us inward pain… said the old hymn, which Jane hummed under her breath while standing at the gate, waving goodbye to a friend. She had come all the way from another city, b
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My mother didnt raise me on just verses from the scriptures or moral science textbooks. She also raised me on stories of her two brothers—one a top ranking officer who flew fighter jets with the Indian Air Fo
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So Bangladesh has begun a trial against Hasina for mass murder. My first reaction? Wait, wasnt she in power just a few months ago? And then it hit me—this is the new game in town. Not politics, not democracy,
Over forty-one years ago, I bought my first car.I was just in my twenties, armed with ambition, a growing business, and a desperate desire to own a four-wheeled beast I could call mine. And so, when the opportu
My granddaughter Emory, all of two, has discovered the wonder of water.Yes, that magical, glistening, splashy liquid that has the power to make a toddler giggle like no stand-up comedian ever could. But as any
Every time I hit a pothole; I feel Ive just had a close encounter with a badly behaved asteroid. It jumps at my car without warning, crashes into my suspension system, and leaves me muttering words unfit for Su
