In yesterday’s episode of Super Dancer a young participant from Arunachal Pradesh broke down while narrating an incident that happened with him outside North East. The hotelier, where the young boy had put up in connection with an event in which he was participating, was amazed to see the boy speaking Hindi, sarcastically commenting that it was amusing to see a Chinese speaking Hindi! And that was not an isolated instance! The young boy had heard this vilifying comment several times outside his home state. One of the judges on the show then remarked, “ Sun rises first in India in Arunachal; when sun does not discriminate, what right do we humans, the much lesser mortals, have to discriminate on the basis of religion, region, ethnicity and cast?

It’s indeed true that nature does not discriminate. The sun and the moon and the stars and the sky offer the same look and experience to all. Rain and trees and vegetation and more importantly, other living animals do not discriminate. Therefore, discrimination in any form – gender, colour, caste, creed, looks, ethnicity, food habits, dressing et al – is not natural but highly unnatural- I won’t even use the words artificial or synthetic because all man made things ultimately owe their origin to something natural – oil, plants, animals or other natural resources.

While in zest and humour, creating laughter by replicating the accents of Madrasis ( anyone south if Vindhyachal) , Bengalis ( forgetting that Assam, Tripura and Odisha are different states), Punjabi ( anyone from North of Delhi state), Bhaiya ( UP and Bihar) or creating typecast caricatures of Brahmin, Marwari , Sardarji, Khan Bahadur or Anthony Gonsalves may appear harmless from the point of view of Bollywood, but anything more serious than that is strictly unnatural.

I have heard several stories of students from NE, studying outside NE in various places within India having to face this unsavoury jibe of Chinese and foreigner. It’s high time we give people of different looks, faiths, rituals, food habits, customs etc space and freedom as this country belongs to all. That’s how we can celebrate the real strength of this country viz Unity in diversity. Otherwise all our progress and giant leap in space, technology and military strength will go futile!

All our major festivals are generally celebrated around the theme of victory of good over evil. Ravana, Kansa and Holika – all represented evils and Lord Vishnu either directly as in the case of Holika or through his incarnation as Rama and Krishna killed these demons to save the humanity.

This demon called Corona virus raised its ugly head around last Holi and it seems to be the utmost evil, who, like a chameleon, changes its colour from Holika to Kansa to Ravana. And while the humanity awaits reincarnation of Vishnu the virus already has reincarnations in the form of UK and South African strains.

A demon is a demon

Call it Ravana, Kansa or Corona as a matter of fact

We need deliverance through divine intervention

And waiting patiently with faith intact !

This Holi let’s pray to whosoever is our cherished divine for colour back in lives for we need not only human unity but also unified divine force !

Last year 22nd March, the first taste of the things to come was evident when Janata curfew was imposed for 14 hours. As the name suggests, the curfew was more of self restraint for the people and I must say that people didn’t disappoint by choosing to stay indoors.

The issue can be debated – did India handle the pandemic well or could it be handled better, was lockdown a good option or it caused too much suffering, especially to the migrant population, did we open up too soon or too late – and one can see merits and demerits in all the above questions! But one fact that’s an indisputable feather in the cap of the country and especially pharmaceutical industry, is production of Corona vaccine almost simultaneously with some of the most advanced countries. Oxford- Astra Zeneca vaccine Covishield being produced by Serum and covaxin by Bharat Biotech have not only given a tremendous boost to the country’s fight against Covid, but India has also emerged as one of the major suppliers of vaccines to several countries. This has eclipsed its earlier gesture of supplying hydroxyl chloroquine to US when that country needed it most.

The idea to write this blog stemmed from an article I read yesterday in Pakistani Urdu daily Jang in which the writer had very generously lauded India’s preparation to be vaccine ready. In fact, the article also criticised the story fed to the generation of Pakistanis of that country’s military might and it being a nuclear power. As the writer quotes an instance of a Pakistani visiting India and being told by his host of India’s tremendous stride forward in manufacturing sector. When the host asks, “how come Pakistan is not manufacturing even a needle?” . the visitor replies, “ We have a nuclear bomb!”

It’s a bit ironical and tragic that two neighbours have invested a lot in destructive power; India’s investment is largely justified as borne out by recent aggression by China and the fact remains that India has simultaneously worked on infrastructure, health, manufacturing, science and technology, where Pakistan seems to have lagged. And the intelligentsia in that country is not altogether blind to the damage by powerful military and its nexus with the politicians. However, like always, I am sure India will keep aside all its differences and the past acts of omission and commission by its hostile neighbour and export Covid vaccine if requited by Pakistan in this need of hour.

I hope India’s medical, scientific and engineering fraternity will continue to make India of tomorrow to which the entire world looks up to for help, guidance and inspiration.

Jai hind !

This is a post I came across in an Urdu group on FB of which I am a member. The original post is in Urdu and it’s my humble attempt to translate it into English for its an interesting post. It reads:

A teacher was teaching a group of students when one of the students posed a question to him, “ Sir, when we breathe our last, how the good deeds and misdeeds done by us in our lifetime are accounted for? More particularly, how are we made to pay for all the sins committed by us during our life time?

Teacher pondered over the question and then called all his students one by one. To the first student, he gave 100 Dirhams with the instruction to spend the entire money over the weekend and to meet him at Nanbai’s tandoor (clay oven) on Monday morning. Thereafter, he gave 50 Dirhams to the second student, 25 to the third, 15 to the 4th , 10 to the 5th, 5 to the 6th and lastly 1 Dirham to the student who had posed this question, with the similar instruction to all of them to meet him at Nanbai’s tandoor on Monday. The student who had posed the question felt humiliated at being given only 1 dirham to spend and he realised that his question might have irritated and upset the teacher.

On Monday, as students arrived one by one at the designated place, they found their teacher already waiting for them. He asked the first student to bring to his mind all that he had done with 100 dirhams over the weekend so that he could quickly reel out details when asked to . He was then instructed by the teacher to stand on the periphery of tandoor and start explaining his expenses detail. With fierce heat burning inside the tandoor heating the periphery to an unbearable extent, the student was in much pain and agony as he started reeling off his adventure- one dirham spent on ice cream, one on chocolate, one on kebab, one on gift for his friend and it took him quite a while to give account for all his spends! By the time he was through, his feet had been badly singed and he needed gallons of water to soothe his skin and nerves. He had a harrowing time. This experience was repeated for all the other students albeit that much less harrowing in proportion to the lesser money they had received from the teacher as they had correspondingly shorter list. The last student took just a second to explain his account of 1 dirham, but above all he couldn’t stop expressing his gratitude and admiration for his revered guru for his giving him 1 dirham was not humiliation but a joy at the end.

I think in our mythology also it’s believed that Chitragupta keeps record of all the Karmas that a person has performed during his lifetime and Lord Yama takes this statement of account ( lekha jokha) from Chitragupta based on which one is allotted heaven or hell.

Even if we keep mythology apart, I think one of the important learning from the above story is to exercise caution, prudence and discretion in earning as also spending the money. While we all want more and more, we should also do more and more albeit not only for ourselves but others who are deprived and hungry.

As I got my first dose of vaccination today, a strange feeling crossed my mind, contrary to the elation suggested by the blog’s title. A cure is not permanent as it just relieves the symptom and the ailment can come back, but a vaccination is more permanent for it leads to formation of anti bodies that ensure that the ailment vaccinated against doesn’t recur. While firstly I got cured from Corona and now I am vaccinated and hopefully, may not suffer the infection again in this lifetime, what about other infections that have built their abode in my heart and mind – jealousy, envy, avarice, cut throat ruthlessness, selfishness, pride, possessiveness – it’s a long list! While exposition by saints, scriptures, philosophers, guides, mentors, friends and elders frequently provides cure from some or all of the above, these ailments comeback each time and with renewed vigour. Caught up in the aforesaid thought, I tried composing a few lines, which read as under:

Vaccination

Vaccine has been discovered

Now I will be Covid proof

I can live my life as usual

And need not stay aloof.

But my heart is still not clear

And mind not without fear

I wish for a vaccine against all my vices

That will make me a better human for my remaining years.

A vaccine that gives me immunity from –

Greed and avarice, yearning for more beyond dal, bread and rice

Desire to win the next race, at any cost and with any face

To be on the top of corporate ladder, by crushing the dreams of my junior cadre

Envy jealousy at others success, for the things to which I don’t get access

The bigotry for other religions and caste, by glorifying only me and my past

Cowardice to look the other way, for things that don’t matter to me and are not in my way

Insecurity to amass the wealth, at the cost of happiness and health

I can go on and on for I have no dearth of vices

But I need a solid vaccination and not mere advices!

Having said so, I plead to all my countrymen to support the Corona vaccination drive and defeat Corona and not wait for the vaccination of writer’s dream!

While what we receive on social media, more so on WhatsApp every morning, mainly eminently avoidable good morning messages, is crap, once in a while, we do come across certain stuff worth its value in gold. One such video was forwarded by an old friend of mine in which, the protagonist described her life changing experience during her official visit to India.

She expresses her desire to go to a crowded bazaar area in the city of Bangalore and persists with her request in spite of her host’s suggestion to avoid the area. However, she reaches there and soon regrets not having paid heed to her host’s advice to avoid the area. She’s overwhelmed by the crowds and rush and dirt and filth expose her to various smells, not all of them pleasant. She escapes to a corner to get some respite from the crowd, heat and humidity, where she observes a group of women making leis out of plucked flowers. She gets intoxicated by both – the aroma of freshly plucked jasmines as also at the artisanship of these ladies in the manner they were weaving flowers into leis. Her eyes fall on a lady – very slim and petite , wrinkles all over who, the protagonist felt wouldn’t be younger than 90 years of age. Her heart gets filled with empathy and she gestures to the old lady to accept the wad of notes that she has taken out of her purse! The old woman refuses and the protagonist takes the services of her guide to explain to the old woman in native language not to treat this as charity, but a deal from an admirer of her craftsmanship to buy old lady’s entire produce for the day. When explained by the guide, the old woman bows with her hands folded and offers 2-3 leis as gift to her foreign guest free of any cost.

The above incident strums the strings of the protagonist’s heart that there are certain values that are much above sales, profits and aggression. Till that day, the protagonist had spent most of her life in running a rat race to climb up the corporate ladder by indulging in ruthless competition. But this small gesture by an illiterate , poor and nonagenarian lady taught the protagonist a valuable lesson in life that changed the direction and approach towards the life. The purpose of the life goes much beyond money, success and position.

As she sums up her talk – “ That valuable lesson made me quit my corporate job and encouraged me to pursue my passions. That simple, poor, illiterate Indian lady made me realise to value Service over sales, honour over hustle and people over profits.”

Not really sure, how many corporate houses are running their businesses today by following the above principles! As I read somewhere, real life changing corporate and management lessons are not taught in B schools but in our day to day lives by observing the real life incidents!

It’s the time of the year when we suddenly remember about gender equality and women empowerment. This is the problem with the designated days – international rose day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and more of their ilk! You only remember about the importance of these persons and objects on that particular day to merrily forget all about them for the remaining part of the year!

What happens during the rest of the year? A woman is beheaded by her father for eloping against his wishes! A woman makes a video prior to her suicide along with her young daughter clearly attributing the extreme step to unbearable attitude of her husband and in laws! Women are lasciviously ogled for wearing a hot dress, lambasted and boycotted ( if lucky not to be killed) for marrying outside caste or religion, ridiculed for joining “#Me Too” movement for certain acts perpetrated upon them way back in the past, discriminated, if not exploited at the workplace, criticised for being career oriented at the cost of homemaking et al !

If I cite here examples of an auto driver’s daughter being crowned Miss India or Zoya Agarwal commandeering an all women crew to the world’s longest flight over North Pole or Bhawana Kanth, the first woman fighter pilot or Shila Dawre, the first woman auto rickshaw driver or Shital Gawande , bus conductor in BEST or Dr Mazijiya Bhanu, a hijab clad powerlifter from Kerala and many more , it would sound so very cliched for that again will tantamount to a discrimination !

If Ganga, our earth, cow and all such reverential objects are feminine and we are Devi poojaks, we shall have to stop getting astonished at women achievers, provide the best and equal opportunities to our daughters, sisters and wives ( and even mothers – a mother passing her class 12th examining in late 60s us awe inspiring) and stop citing examples of Ma Durga, Mother Mary, Mother Earth, Mother India, Mother Teresa, Mata Nanaki or Fatima as prelude to respecting women. Women have to be respected for being one of the halves, two of which make a human being.

That will be a true spirit of celebrating women’s day not only on the 8th of March but on each day of the year bereft of any cliches!

Happy Women’s day!

As I cover the last mile of my banking journey, I am tempted to reflect at the changes that banking has seen over the last 3-4 decades. The first definition that we learnt was – banks accept money from depositors and lend it for business. The margin between deposit and lending rates is their profit for running operations.

While it would not be possible to describe the entire journey of banking traversed by me in a few lines and that would require a few volumes and at some stage I may pen my journey as my memoirs, a few significant changes that need to be highlighted are as under:

(1) I seldom visit a branch and do all my banking using mobile and internet apps. Branches have become more of sale and acquisition outlets rather than service outlets.

(2) The only fee we knew was processing fee on large corporate advances and that too we used to ask for apologetically, waiving it partially or completely generously. Little did we realise that almost all the services would become paid services, retail fee would outnumber the corporate fee and that fee will become as important component of bottom line as interest!

(3) Sale efforts were limited to “deposit fortnights” when the expectation was to open higher number of accounts that were generally used to be opened in normal course. Selling, including loan and third party products was completely unimaginable.

(4) The best banker was one who could write daily’s trial balance (called clean cash book) and tally ledgers promptly ( monthly exercise that consumed the most of a banker’s time) unlike today when we recognise and reward the best seller!

(5) This instance is oft quoted by me for it brings to the fore the irony of network expansion. When we wanted to open the second branch in one of the large 4 megalopolises, there was hue and cry from the first branch about serious threat to its business potential. Today we have at least 200+ branches in each of these cities and their adjoining suburbs.

(5) Treasuries would manage funds and liquidity and cover forwards for clients. That treasuries would become profit centres and undertake complex derivatives and other transactions for clients as also on proprietary basis was inconceivable.

(6) Credit card was a coveted possession and cheques of one of the foreign banks would inspire awe. DDs and POs were much sought after instruments and banks would take their own sweet time to issue them. Teller/ cashier queues were unavoidable for ATMs were few and far between!

The above list is very long and as aforesaid, summing up changes would require a volume or two. In fact, many of you can readily add to the above list from your first hand experiences. But it’s been a true metamorphosis, which is not as much talked about as telecom, automobile or internet revolutions, but is no less significant! It’s been a remarkable transformation, but more importantly it’s just the beginning! Some of the new initiatives in the pipeline are going to change the way banking is done. While the last 4 decades have been transitional, next 4 years could be transformational. And when we are seeing such a pace of change, who could risk making forecast for next 4 decades and hence use of the expression 4 years!

I am a member of a fantastic FB group called Old Bombay to which I contributed the following verse composed by me as a eulogy to this fascinating and great city. The poem reads as under:

This city is historical
This city is mystical
Call it Mumbai or Bombay
This city is really phenomenal.

Folklore says Mumbai never sleeps
Yet it awakes every morning to start a new day
As if there’s no tomorrow
And all tasks need to be completed today.

It may seem unfriendly
Everyone rushing to his destination
Yet once you start knowing the place
You develop deep love for it and no infatuation

Dadar, Bandra, Andheri are not just names
They are places quite unique
With a lot of history and culture
Each place has its own intrigue

The place first scares you
With everything expensive including rentals
Then it grows on you
And you become sentimental

Mills have become malls
And many iconic landmarks have vanished
But change is the only constant
No change can affect its image to be tarnished

Vada pav, misal pav and pav bhaji
May be the street food of commoners
But now these are part of international cuisines
That are served openly without cutting any corners

Red Best buses may not match London’s fleet
But they are reliable and dependable
For Mumbaikars Best is iconic symbol
That makes their journeys pleasurable

And Mumbai local is not a lifeline for nothing
For a city of such magnitude and size
We saw plights of commuters during covid
If there is no local, there’s no life

I may not be a blue blood Mumbaikar
By having been born and brought up here
But I have made this city my abode
Home is where heart is there!

I read in newspaper that 2nd March 2020 was the first day when Covid threatened to take the shape of a pandemic with the first set of travellers ( a middle aged couple from Pune) testing positive and it was found that more than 25 others, who had come in contact with the couple were also infected. This proved the contagiousness of the strain and its ability to spread rapidly and infect large parts of population, especially in a densely populated place like Mumbai. Till then only stray cases were observed mainly in Kerala.

How we all coped up with Covid between the 2nd March last year and today is now part of an experience that we all would like to forget. The initial days of Janta curfew, applauding Corona warriors, lockdown, Corona infections and resulting deaths, work from home, plight of migrant labourers etc are all etched in our memories like the most horrific experience of our lives.

Today vaccination has offered hope. The strain was also weakening till new more virulent strains were observed in South Africa and UK. Life is limping back to normal, but fear is clearly prevalent all over with a fresh wave not altogether ruled out. Agreeably, people have to come out of their houses to resume their jobs as sustenance is not possible by sitting at home. Also, people have to meet their beloved ones, whom they have not been able to visit for more than one year. But what’s not understandable is their callousness in not wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and reverting to bad old habits of spitting in open? Unless we are all aligned, transmission of the infection will not stop and we will not be able to exterminate the virus completely.

On personal front, I got the bitter taste of the malaise fully. My wife got infected, I too couldn’t escape it but most worryingly, my octogenarian mother had to be hospitalised and this was a real shocker as we saw senior citizens falling like ninepins having suffered Covid. But all’s well that ends well and I hope my personal story gets replicated for every household not only of this country but the entire world!