Axis Bank was incorporated as UTI Bank on 3rd December 1993 (rechristened Axis Bank in 2007) and today on 3rd December 2018, we are celebrating its 25th birth anniversary. Those working in the Bank’s corporate head quarter at Axis House, Mumbai were extended a red carpet welcome in the morning that pleasantly surprised the staff members. Axis House lobby has been decorated with very tasteful floral arrangement and the mood is very festive and celebratory.

Being associated with Axis almost since its inception (I will be entering my 25th year in Axis 2 days from now), the strides taken by the Bank to reach where it is today are the stuff folklores are made of. Incorporated and started as UTI Bank, as aforesaid, the Bank opened its first branch in Ahmedabad on 2nd April 1994, inaugurated by the then Finance Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. The Bank made a cautious but solid start under the leadership of career banker Mr Supriya Gupta and gathered pace of growth under Dr PJ Nayak. Under Ms Shikha Sharma, who is shortly relinquishing office on 31st December 2018, the Bank made rapid strides in the areas of retail lending, cards, mobile and internet banking, CASA franchise and consolidated its position under the category of large sized banks. The new MD designate Mr Amitabh Chaudhry is likely to bring a fresh vision to chalk out the future growth story.

What makes Axis unique? Is its product portfolio or quality of its products or its ATM network or its CASA franchise or its pan India presence? Actually all the above are measurable business parameters that every player in the industry aspires or aims for! What makes Axis unique is its humane personal touch that has left nobody- be its customers, staff, associates, service providers or any other stakeholder- untouched! I worked briefly in Ahmedabad way back in 1994, but the lady, fondly called “Behn” or sister in Gujarati, served tea then and does so now too! While the number of branch heads that have headed Ahmedabad main branch would have touched double digits, the driver who has driven all of them is same. And this is not exclusive to Ahmedabad- Axis story is replete with such incidents. Satish, who now manages the Bank’s Executive Lunch room is the same Satish who served us breakfast in 1994 when we were temporarily sheltered in the Bank’s guest house! And you can very well imagine the stability of its staff, when outsourced helping hands and service providers refuse to let go of their Axis association.

Organisations have their ups and downs as far as their business and growth are concerned. However, the qualities of humanity, empathy, care, transparency, respect, inclusiveness make an organisation shock proof against temporary, short term setbacks and these unique features, which, thanks to its leaders, are now ingrained in its ethos will ensure that Axis will celebrate many more jubilees, which old Axis bankers like me will observe from the sidelines after attaining superannuation. Because people making Axis will come and go, but Axis will stand tall with its head held high in pride!

(1) Rafale deal is hanky panky. Monies have changed hands illegally and Anil Ambani mediated at the behest of the Government.

(2) GDP growth during UPA Government’s regime needs to be recast and if apples are compared with apples, NDA Government’s GDP of last 4 years is better.

(3) Public institutions like Supreme Court, CBI, RBI have lost their voice and independence during NDA regime.

(4) India’s finances are in shambles and fiscal deficit is reaching dangerous proportions. That’s why Government badly needs to gorge on RBI’s reserves.

(5) Demonetisation has proven to be draconian and major failure that has caused irreversible medium to long term damage to Indian economy.

(6) Demonetisation and GST have killed small business in India.

(7) Oil prices and dollar could be global phenomena but Government’s policies have added fuel to the fire!

(8) Government has been totally apathetic to farming community and that rural India is going to revolt against the Government.

(9) Muslim Personal Law, Sabarimala, Ram Mandir are all part of divisive strategy of the Government to cause irreversible damage to the social fabric of the country!

(10) BJP Governments in Chhattisgarh, MP and Rajasthan are amongst the worst ever and BJP is losing all these states. Haryana, Bihar and Jharkhand are next in line.

However, we have Government machinery using all its might to highlight achievements of Modi Government- gas connections, direct benefit transfer, insurance, best possible Rafale deal, IBC, India’s global standing, transparency and what not!

In a country endowed with sharpest political, financial, defence, investigative journalists and commentators, isn’t there a sane voice that can expose the reality to the public or shall the public have to suffer highly insensitive, polarised and sensational journalism of Republic TV/NDTV kind? While we do miss Kuldip Nayar, Girilal Jain, Hiranmay Karlekar sorts of matured minds, Arun Shourie, Pritish Nandi, Bachi Karkaria, Jug Suraiya should leave behind their idiosyncrasies and fixed opinion to rise to the occasion and bring out the truth! Let’s also understand- Modi’s victory or loss in the next general elections is not the end of it! If India could survive Mughals, Britishers and other invaders and exist after some of its finest sons and daughters like Pt Nehru, Shastri, Gandhi, Patel, Morarji, Rajiv, Indira, Jyoti Basu, MGR, Atal departed- it’s destiny is certainly not linked to Modi!

My readers would wonder who Swagata Bhaumik is? Generally, my blogs are not individual specific, unless that individual has done some pathbreaking work in a particular field. So occasionally you come across blogs written by me on Amitabh Bachchan or the Waterman or Harakchand Savla – all of whom have been extraordinary individuals. In the above backdrop, a dedicated blog on Swagata Bhaumik certainly needs an elaboration.

Mrs Swagata Bhaumik is no pathbreaking or extraordinary individual. In fact, her ordinariness is what makes her unique. Coming from a humble middle class Bengali background, Swagata always aspired for a life of domesticity, with a loving partner and sweet children. She always dreamt of a life of a home maker, where she would keep her home spic and span, well appointed and interesting, cook delicious delicacies for her family and devote her life in raising her children and looking after her family. However, fulfilment of even this simple wish was not in her luck. A few years into her insipid marriage, she took a bold decision to walk out of her uncaring husband along with her infant daughter. Such a bold step in Kolkata of those days was rare amongst rather conservative middle class Bengali backdrop. With no job or any special skill and solely on the backing of aged pensioner mother ( and of course her ever supporting sisters, but all having their own responsibilities towards their respective families ), she decided to start life afresh. She quickly learnt some basic secretarial skills (typing and shorthand) and started running from pillar to post for a job, leaving her baby with her mother. After a few lacklustre mundane jobs, she got selected in the newly established UTI Bank. The bank was in the process of setting up its Kolkata branch.

As they say, the rest is history. From starting at the bottom of the hierarchy, Mrs Bhaumik decided to make the best of the opportunity that had come her way. Actually, this was also the staring point of our acquaintanceship. I met her for the first time at Kolkata branch, where I landed as an outsider one fine winter morning and met my Kolkata branch colleagues, one of them being Swagata. While I was an experienced banker picked up as a credit specialist, she was an awkward newbie trying to make it to the big bad professional world after a failed marriage. She knew no Hindi, very little English and I didn’t know B of Bangla. Our acquaintanceship started on such a note. However, she won over everyone by her positivity, diligence, hard work and overall attitude. She was there for everything and everyone whenever required. If an urgent note or letter was required to be typed at 8 PM, she would not hesitate or make excuses about her old mother or young daughter at home. In between, she picked up threads of banking also as she could foresee the end of the road for secretarial sort of roles in the face of increasing computerisation.

I got transferred out of Kolkata, but having struck strong bonding with her, we stayed in touch. I tracked her professional and personal progress, albeit from a distance. She made transition from secretarial role to mainstream banking, struggled to get her fundamentals right, earned the wrath of bosses, but all along maintained her dignity. Her progress was slow and painstaking, but definitive. She rose in the rank, gave good upbringing to her daughter, took care of her aging mother without in any manner diluting her professional commitment. She bought a house of her own to give a more comfortable life to her daughter and mother, who all till then were sharing a room. She got her daughter married into a Bengali family of repute and rejoiced at having met all her responsibilities.

However, her share of struggle in life was not to get over with the above stated discharge of her responsibilities. Very soon her daughter came back due to certain irreconcilable differences for absolutely no fault of hers. This pained her, but she didn’t lose heart. She took up the cudgel of rehabilitating her innocent daughter and indeed found a good match. She remarried her daughter. Around 5 years into her second marriage and with a 3 years old daughter in tow, the daughter has returned to her mother for good, being unlucky for the second time in the matter of marriage. She, once again, has fully backed her daughter, though she is now responsible to support one additional member, her granddaughter. Also, her mother, who is in her ripe old age, is completely bedridden requiring 24×7 nursing.

This blog is tribute to her steadfastness to her principles of not tolerating any injustice or bullying, but living life on her own terms, notwithstanding hurdles in the way. Life has tested her at each step and this is not likely to be over, because all her responsibilities are not likely to get over in near future. On top of it, today is her last day in service as she superannuates having attained the age of 60. Her income will be severely curtailed and expenses grow as the granddaughter starts going to higher classes! But I am sure she will neither wither nor accept the defeat for she has always lived her life struggling only! All the best to Mrs Swagata Bhaumik for her retired life!

26/11 terrorist attack was so grievous that I felt like penning this poem.

When they were firing indiscriminately at VT,

Could they discriminate between Hindus and Muslim;

One who was dying was his mother’s child,

Irrespective of whether he was wearing cotton or muslin.

Did they come to kill only Hindus?

Or did they target all the Indians?

If we could be united in death

Why can’t we live as Indians?

When terrorists had let loose fire on us,

They were not aiming at any religion;

They were rabid, irrational misguided youth,

Their religion was only perversion.

9/11, 26/11 are not mere dates,

Nor are they symbol of any religion;

Terrorists are brainwashed to extremism,

Killing is their only passion.

If we face them together,

Our wives, sisters and mothers won’t have to cry;

We will be a formidable force

Ready to push them back on the sly!

At home we may be Hindus and Muslims,

For outsiders we are Indians;

26/11 will never repeat itself,

As indeed we are undoubtedly Indians!!!

26/11 is one of the saddest days not only for Mumbai, but the entire country. It was on this day in 2008 that 10 fully armed and militarily trained LET terrorists attacked India’s commercial hub, exposing the country’s vulnerability to the World. Coming through the sea route, these terrorists landed at Fishermen’s colony in Cuffe Parade and started their game of death. It started from Colaba’s popular joint Leopold Cafe and the names of Cama Hospital , Oberoi Hotel, Chabad House, CST and Taj Mahal Palace are permanently etched in the memories of Mumbaikars and Indians. So are the names of the brave officers of Mumbai Police, who took on these professionally trained terrorists, guided by military strategists of ISI, with quaint arms and zero protection. Brave and brilliant officers like Vijay Salaskar, Ashok Kamte, Hemant Karkare, Tukaram Ombale fought bravely but proved to be sitting ducks in front of these mercenaries. The way black cat commandos of Indian Armed forces flushed these terrorists, holed up inside iconic Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, out by neutralising all of them except one, Kasab, who was caught alive on Marine Drive and executed subsequently after spilling all the beans on the conspiracy, is the stuff folklores are made of. Sandeep Unnikrishnan, a young Army officer, laid down his life, but his brave father refused to grieve on the martyrdom of his son.

What’s the learning from this all out attack on Mumbai? Is Mumbai of today safer than Mumbai of 2008? Are it’s roads, public transport, schools, public places safer than they were when attacked? I don’t think so. I read that metal detectors, installed at suburban railway stations post train blasts do not work. Passengers are busy fighting for place to sit or stand rather than watching the racks or underneath seats for suspicious bags or packets. Road Nakabandis appear most lackadaisical and their effectiveness is highly suspect. We seem busy on Mandir, Rafale, Mallya, elections issues rather than worrying about the safety of our city and country. On the eve of the anniversary of this darkest, blackest day in the history of our city and country, let’s not waste the sacrifice and martyrdom of the country’s brave sons by allowing such dastardly acts to be repeated. Let’s plug our vulnerabilities by being united and adopting systems such as group, community or neighbourhood watching for the safety and well being of all of us and our beloved country and Mumbai.

This season of KBC is proving to be more special than previous seasons for we have seen more special people in this season, who are selflessly working for the benefit of society. Earlier I was compelled to write a blog on Waterman and after seeing the yesterday’s telecast, I am compelled now to write about the Medicineman. He started by saving a part of his pocket money for helping needy cancer patients. In fact, for several years he did so by hiding this fact from his family, However, his wife did not oppose his good work and on the contrary extended her full support. He was encouraged to go whole hog into his work and he decided to give his restaurant to someone else to run. After years of grind, his efforts were noticed by his friends, who after the initial hesitation started supplementing his financial resources. Now his Sanstha has started receiving substantial voluntary donations, though he needs to double this amount looking to the demand from the needy patients and their families.

His approach his holistic. He runs a medicine outlet that sells medicines at cheap rates and also gives free to those who can’t pay anything. Then he goes around talking to cancer patients, counselling them, giving them hope, playing with children suffering from cancer and making available food to the patients and his/her family members. It was spine tingling to learn certain stories that how family members accompanying patients to Tata Memorial Hospital have no place to live but the footpath and how ladies were exposed to physical assault by drug addicts and other hoodlums of the area. His aspiration is to make a rest house for family members accompanying patients where they can stay in the safety of four walls at least.

At a time, when we are chasing money and materials, a person is dedicating all his resources and life to welfare of patients. He never says no to anyone approaching him and he is God to so many who lost all hope after being affected by cancer. As he rightly put, all religions preach anna daan (feeding the hungry) , but no religion preached dawa daan (medicines to the needy), which as per him is the ultimate charity. His only earning is a sound good night sleep that beckons him as soon as he hits the bed!

Can all of us strengthen the hands of Harakchand Savla in his mission for the mankind? First the Waterman, then the cabbie from West Bengal who runs a school for the down trodden and now the Medicineman, this season of KBC is worthy of being weighed in Gold!

Listening to a popular Mohammad Rafi number on FM, it just struck me that the evergreen voices of Rafi, Kishore, Mukesh, Lata, Asha, Shamshad can be easily recognised even from a distance. In contrast, I find it extremely difficult to put a name to today’s singer in as much as that even the number 1 singer of today , Arijit Singh, is difficult to be placed apart from his rivals. They all sing full throat, mainly following the Pakistani style of singing inspired by the likes of all time greats such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and whenever I listen to a song from new movie, I have to google to check the name of the singer. Rafi had a great pitch – he could sing O duniya ke rakhwale on one hand and sound smooth as silk in yeh mera prem patra padhkar! Lata could sing aa jaane ja and more panghat pe nand lal chhed gayo re with equal ease and yet sound Lata in both the genres of the above songs. Kishore could yoddle or be immensely serious with ease and without sounding anyone else but Kishore.

After the above greats, the last of the lot were Suresh Wadkar, Alka Yagnik and Sonu Nigam, who sounded distinct ( I am not including Southern greats like Yesudas, SP Balasubramaniam etc for obvious reasons). Today’s movies are the first weekend wonder and so are the sounds. It’s difficult to make out one Arijit number from another or for that matter Arijit number from a Pakistani singer’s number. They are all talented, but they sing alike. In the matters of old songs, I am a master winning several radio quizzes. When it comes to the recent songs and movies, I am going to be a damp squib – the only argument being whether I or these songs are damp squibs? 😀

I distinctly remember I was in my early teens and had just taken to watching Hollywood movies in big way. Steve McQueen, Robert Shaw, Clint Eastwood etc we’re making big impression on me. In such excitement, an NRI filmmaker decided to make blockbuster movie by bringing Hollywood stars to India to collaborate with Indian stars. The end result was “Shalimar” filmed on grand scale and starred Hollywood biggies such as Rex Harrison, Sylvia Miles, John Saxon and Indian superstars like Dharmendra and Zeenat Aman. In spite of medley cast, hype about international production values and good music that generated lot of initial euphoria, the movie proved to be a dud and flopped miserably at the box office. Before this, showman Raj Kapoor’s dream project “Mera Naam Joker” with international star cast, great music and 3 hours plus running time, proved to be a big time failure that in a way finished the career of Raj Kapoor, the star actor. Of course, he bounced back 3 years later with Bobby that launched his younger son Rishi Kapoor and classic beauty Dimple Kapadia, but the failure of Mera Naam Joker shattered him from which he couldn’t really recover. Another example that readily comes to mind is that of “Shaan”. After Sholay’s unprecedented success, the onus was on Ramesh Sippy to use a larger canvas to make even a bigger blockbuster. However, Shaan failed miserably at the box office and Ramesh Sippy could never regain his past glory in spite of some decent movies later on. The history of Bollywood is replete with such instances that created big time pre release hype, but proved dud when released in theatres. While some of them were unfortunate to have failed at the time of original release, the case in point being Mera Naam Joker, which today is treated as an all time cult classic, most of these flopped because they failed having concentrated only on gloss and not on content. Ultimately, content is king as validated by recent success of low key movies such as Badhai Ho and Andhadhun. The inspiration for this blog also came from a recent dud – “Thugs of Hindoostan” with which two megastars of Bollywood seemed to have met their Waterloo.

Does anyone today remember Afghan Snow, the original fairness cream that used to be advertised on Radio Ceylon? Or for that matter Charmis Cream that used to be marketed in fancy glass container with pink cap? Binaca toothpastes had 3 variants – green, top and flouride and all three packs had miniature animals inside that children used to collect fondly, while Forhans had original that didn’t foam and a flouride variant that was more normal! Signal had stripes, though Maclean’s never attained big popularity! While vestiges of Ambassador and Fiat can still be seen on the roads of Kolkata and Mumbai respectively, Standard is consigned to history! I just read about the plans to revive iconic motorcycle brand “Java” that once formed one part of the troika, others being Yezdi and Rajdoot! I don’t think many people would have heard about Dalima or JB Mangharam, two iconic biscuit brands that no longer exist. How about Flag mint bar that had a flag of one of the countries inside the wrap, avidly collected by children? Delite and Petuit Berry were super popular biscuits that ceased to exist even though the company making them is going strong! Once famous and almost monopolistic shampoo brand Halo is seldom seen on shop shelves!

It takes years of hard work, advertising support, marketing efforts for a brand to catch fancy of the consumers, but several brands lose out even after attaining iconic status. This could be ascribed to new technology (automobiles), competition (toothpaste, biscuits), lack of innovation (cosmetics, toiletries) or failure of the company making a particular brand to survive! Under the circumstances long surviving brands like Colgate, Coke, Lux, Parle G , Bournvita etc deserve a salute! I think a brand needs an emotional connect with consumers to survive in long run.

This was my third visit to Pondicherry. It’s French heritage, beautiful promenade, Lord Ganesha temple – all attract repeat visitors to this beautiful Union Territory. But it has great significance almost like a place of pilgrimage for the devotees who throng serene, peaceful and absolutely calm Sri Aurobindo Ashram. The samadhis of Sri Aurobindo and Mother ( as Mirra Alfassa is fondly addressed by her thousands of devotees) and the meditation room are a source of divine experience to thousands of devotees of this cult, if I may call this group so!

I really couldn’t connect to the devotion and divine experience of thousands of devotees during my previous visits for I found the place to be rather rigid with an imposed calmness. I saw certain bit of artificiality about the place. During my this visit two days ago, I decided to go a bit deeper into the lives of Sri Aurobindo and Mother and picked up a few books concerning their lives and philosophy. Mother, a child of Turkish- Egyptian descent, did not have a usual childhood. She started having divine experiences from very young age. When she was 3 years old, she would sit in meditation for hours, worrying her parents. At 11 she had experience concerning Krishna though till then she had no exposure to Hindu philosophy. She was of the firm view that she would meet him one day on the earth. She was married twice and had a son from her first marriage. She was exposed to Sri Aurobindo during her first visit to Pondicherry, India in 1914 along with her husband. Sri Aurobindo by that time had left his English academic background and civil services to seek truth by doing intensive research and study in his humble Ashram at Pondicherry, a place he had made his permanent abode. Mother had another opportunity to visit Pondicherry in 1920 and this time she was clear that she had met her mentor and Krishna in Sri Aurobindo and thereafter she never left Pondicherry for next 53 years till her death in 1973. During that period of 53 years, she attained sainthood with several divine experiences, which were not exclusive to her but to several sadhaks too who served Sri Aurobindo and Mother selflessly in search of truth. While Sri Aurobindo got more and more immersed in reading and writing, the Mother forged a close bond with hundreds of devotees who got attracted to her persona. The experiences that Mother had during the Second World War and that Sri Aurobindo had during the partition of the country ( he died soon thereafter in 1950) are the stuff folklores are made of and are gospel for the followers of the cult. Mother continued her work (Auroville, Schools, daily discourses, supramental experiments etc all of which make a fascinating read into the lives of two great people separated by thousands of mile geographically at birth but who co- created a philosophy that seems a bit too advanced for their times but has all the essence of something divine. The story of mother is especially awe inspiring given her complete dedication to Sri Aurobindo in whom he saw her Krishna. I intend to study more about their fascinating lives and am sure that whenever I visit Pondicherry next, it will focused around Mother and Sri Aurobindo Ashram.