The joys of a bank calendar

Rajiv Bakshi 

It was the best of time ‘then’. It is not the worst time ‘now’. The old order changes. And I am no exception. In the ’70s I embarked on a journey leaving my parents and siblings to take up my first job in a bank at Dibrugarh. Travelling in a third class compartment was not easy, especially when the journey was over 80 hours long. Equally difficult was staying alone in a place where no one knew Punjabi. 

It was difficult to please customers then. It’s more difficult to please customers now, when all have access to mobile phones and Internet. A customer with a deposit of Rs 1 lakh was a privileged customer, with access to the manager’s cabin. Tea and biscuits followed. If he was a more privileged customer, with many FDs in his family name, he was treated with bread pakoras and gulab jamun.

In the first month of the New Year, bank calendars were dispatched in a limited quantity. The branch manager was the king. He could give the calendar to anyone. Being a junior officer then, I was given the task of checking the accounts of privileged customers. The lists were prepared in consultation with other staff members who we used to oblige. Three-four of my Jalandhar-based friends were added to the list.

The customers felt highly obliged to the manager and also the front-desk staff. They made it a point to invite us to any function at their home, be it a birthday party or a wedding. 

After retirement, my visit to even my pension-paying branch nearly stopped. All transactions were done through Internet banking and cash was withdrawn from the ATM. I had gone abroad for some time, when I landed in Delhi for a few days, I thought of visiting one of my banks branches in Gurgaon. 

I reluctantly entered the manager’s cabin without giving an introduction. The seat was occupied by a smart young lady. She greeted me with a broad smile and asked how she could help me, and if I had an account with their branch. My answer was in the negative. She asked me whether I wanted to open an account. Again, I answered in the negative. I was familiar with all the rules and regulations after working with a bank for about 35 years. 

When I asked her if I could get a calendar, she gave a typical branch manager’s smile and replied: ‘Sorry, but all the calendars have been given to the privileged customers, having substantial deposit with us, and to some school/college management.’ I felt bad. As I got up from my chair to leave, I casually told her that I had retired as a senior manager from the same bank. 

What followed next was a hot cup of coffee, a pizza slice from a nearby eatery and some calendars wrapped in an old newspaper!