Some More Photographs

Hi Folks,

They say a picture is worth a thousand words (I've just added a few more !). Recently I bought a data cable for my Cellphone and transferred some photos to my PC. So here are the results. The first three photos were taken on 10th and the remainder on 11th January after our promotion interview.

Murali - pensive doing mental maths with CRR and SLR etc prior to his turn.

Goyal - sweating it out - literally !!

Capt Waghmare and Col. Roy - Waiting prior to the interview.

Murali and Toms - Waiting for some word on the outcome of the

interview on 11th January 2007

Moudgil trying to quench his thirst.

This is my friend Toms trying to capture my mugshot on his Cellphone - the activity was mutual.

Decent Exposure !! - Murali and Moudgil comparing notes at the former's house

Dr Bimal Jalan's Book Launch

Dr Bimal Jalan, our former Governor and Member of Parliament was in town on 12th April to release his new book “India’s Politics : A View from the Backbench” The book which has been published by Penguin India and priced at Rs 300/- is the first book written by Dr Jalan which does not pertain to a topic related to Economics. I was escorting Dr Jalan during the time he spent at Bangalore. The book release was scheduled at 7.30 PM on 12 April 2007 at the Taj Westend Hotel. The list of invitees was quite long and impressive but owing to the first death anniversary of Kannada film star Rajkumar there were traffic jams galore all over the city and to make matters worse it started raining cats and dogs at 7.30 PM sharp, hence attendance was thin. Dr Girish Karnad was to release the book but he could not make it owing to the aforesaid reasons.
Most of the crowd which had assembled was of the ‘page three’ variety who were there just to be snapped by the media and to partake of the free drinks – I daresay. The moderator was one helluva ‘rude dude’ – Mr Suhel Seth who ruffled quite a few feathers with his ascerbic comments. He was brash, threw tantrums at regular intervals, cut down a wannabe media person to size and insulted a waiter for showing him drinks. It was fun watching all this drama unfold on the sidelines. I think Dr Jalan was not very happy by the lack of grasp of the subject by most of the audience (as most of them were dumb).
The book which I had a chance to browse through (we spent nearly three hours in the hotel) is very well written. It describes the complexities of the political system in India and the ills plaguing it. Dr Jalan advocates a code of conduct for multi-party coalitions which are the order of the day now. He has thrown up very pertinent issues which should be a cause of worry for every citizen of this country. He has also prescribed a ten point programme for political reforms that could make the Indian democracy more stable and accountable. The book has already been released in Delhi. The book is definitely worth a read. To know more about the author and his other works please visit http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/AuthorLounge/AuthorDetail.asp?aid=1687

Trekking on Good Friday - Savandurga

RBI, Bangalore has recently constituted a Trekking Club of which I also happen to be a member. On 6th April (Good Friday) a motley group of members of the staff and their families set off to a place called “Savandurga”. It consists of two hills – ‘Karigudda’ (black hill) and ‘Beligudda’ (white hill) – which are separated by a chasm. This is about 60 km west of Bangalore off the Magadi Road. The hill which rises to 4050 feet above sea level is famous for a temple and is believed to be the largest monolithic hill in Karnataka.

It is believed that the 17th century Magadi chieftains, Kempegowdas, had their second capital over here. The hill is made up of granite and is devoid of any vegetation. The steep climb to the top is daunting and tortuous especially for first-timers and ladies. To make matters worse we did it on a hot sunny day. We left RBI, Bangalore at 7.30 AM and started the climb at 9.30 AM after a bellyful of breakfast (not ideal conditions for rock climbing). It took nearly 3 hours for the whole group to reach the top.

At the summit there is a small temple type structure with a black benign Nandi bull staring into space. The view from the top makes the gruelling climb worth its while. Coming down was also tough owing to the constant need to apply brakes on our legs. We had lunch in a park at the foothill and reached Bangalore at 6.00 PM. It was a good outing for avid trekkers and nature lovers. I enjoyed it but my wife called it a torture (well one man’s meat …etc, etc). Some of the photos of the trip are as follows :

Watching the kids frolic after lunch

Going Downhill - this was no cakewalk !!!

The spectacular view from the summit

Friendly white arrows mark the "Rute" to the top !!

Start of the trek - A view from the village at the base of the hill

The climb in progress

Breakfast break near the foothills

A group photo at the Bank's premises with the Regional Director

Management Fundas

I read an article on Security Management some 20 years back. What I clearly remember are the comments about management the author's father had made when he was a child. It is amazing how some piece of trivia sticks in your memory. I have long forgotten the contents of the said article. Well here goes - and I think they are still valid today :

1. “ If you want to get hit by lightning, be sure to climb the hill”
(If you really want to be a professional at your job, you have to keep struggling to get up there where you are a recognized member of the team. If you want to get hit by lightning, if that’s where you want to be, keep climbing the hill.)

2. “ If you want to be a statue in the park, expect pigeons.”
(So if you want to be a manager, there are going to be pigeons around. It isn’t always going to be pleasant. There are some nasty things you have to do.)

An Interesting Mail Forward

Drinking Warm Water and Heart Attacks.

This is a very good article. Not only about the warm water after your meal, but also about heart attacks. This makes sense. The Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals...not cold water...maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habits while eating!!! Nothing to lose, everything to gain...For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this "sludge" reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.

A serious note about heart attacks: You should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting. Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line.You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms. 60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better are chances of survival. A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this mail sends it to 10 people, you can be sure that we'll save at least one life. Read this...It could save your life!!

** Please be a true friend and send this article to all your friends you care about **

Fire Training at Nagpur - More Photos

Some of the good boys in class at Hotel Tuli International.

"How to tie a bandage on one's head ?" Balli practising his skills on my head.

A class in session under the banyan tree at the NCDC campus (a revival of old memories !!)

Amarnath and me listening to Sudershan and Balli who were singing old songs

Fire Training at Nagpur - Photos

This is the whole bunch (less one who clicked the snap) under the Banyan Tree (duly enlightened !!)

Amarnath, Balli, myself and Kachare (Balli was overburdened - hence the helping hands !)

This is me in a PPSCBA outfit (Positive Pressure Self Contained Breathing Apparatus)

G.R.Pal, Amarnath, Balli and myself

Waiting in front of Bishop Cotton School for the bus ride to NCDC

K.P.Umrao, Self, Balli and Sudershan at the NCDC Campus

Balli exercising his vocal chords at the party hosted by purshottam Das

PS . Purshottam Das had forwarded 101 photos to me. I have only posted some of them in which my mug also features - naturally !!!

Fire Training at Nagpur

I returned to Bangalore a couple of days back after attending the Fire Safety Management Course conducted by the National Civil Defence College, Nagpur. Since 19th March was a holiday over here, I came back via Delhi, hence the delay in this post.
The course was especially designed by NCDC for Security Officers from RBI and was very well taken. This was the first “officer like” course I have attended ever since I joined the Bank. The stay arrangements at Hotel Tuli International were good and the food was delicious. Most of the classes were conducted in the hotel itself except for a couple of lecture cum demonstrations which were held at the NCDC campus. Airconditioned comfort coupled with sumptious food sure made a heady mixture.
The course content adequately covered most of the areas of concern to us and future courses will be better if the feedback given by us is taken into account. The Security Adviser told us that such courses would be conducted every quarter provided they can be fitted into the NCDC calendar.
Other than myself, Amarnath, Balvinder, Pal and Sudershan all the other participants were of 4 to 6 years service and less in the Bank and everyone had a good time. Purshottam Das from BTC had brought his digicam along and he was very busy taking snaps all the time. I am going to upload some of the photos which he has been kind enough to forward.

He had also organized a get-together for all the ‘oldies’ which none of us are going to forget in a hurry. The highlight of the evening was Balli and Sudershan regaling us with old hindi songs.

Application of the Army Act at OTS, Madras

I was under training for being commissioned into the Army at Officers Training School (OTS), Madras (as it was then known) from May 1977 to March 1978. During that time I witnessed the use of Section 63 of the Army Act 1950, with impunity. This section related to acts of omission or commission that violated good order and military discipline. This was applied with missionary zeal even on minor offences and it was an all-encompassing section which could cover all offences that were not dealt with by other sections of the archaic act. Two incidents are etched in my memory which I am about to describe – the first happened while I was there and the second is hearsay as it happened after I had passed out (but I knew the hapless culprit).
In the first instance a ‘gentleman cadet’ was caught in an out-of-bound area with a lady companion in his birthday suit. He was promptly charged under Section 63 and the charge sheet read thus : “ An act prejudicial to good order and military discipline, in that No……..GC……..while at OTS, Madras, on (date), at (time), was found consorting with a woman of ill repute near Marina beach”. The bloke was summarily punished and promptly relegated to the junior course. Well, this guy also had his connections and advisers and he went into appeal. This particular charge was withdrawn as it would be tough to prove that the woman he was caught with was of “ill-repute”. However, he was again charged under the same section for “violating anti-malaria precautions” and duly punished.
In the second case a gentleman cadet reported sick and it was discovered that he had contracted some ‘sexually transmitted disease’. He was also charge sheeted and asked to pack his bags. This guy later went to court and won the case as, under the Army Act, ‘contracting’ such a disease was NOT an offence whereas 'concealing' it was. He was reinstated with his course and even got some damages I believe.
PS. The decisions in most cases dealt with under the Army Act 1950, used to be overturned by the civil courts either because of inherent flaws in the said act or because of the wrong application of the provisions made thereunder. We have been hearing of the Act being overhauled and updated since time immemorial but it is still in use.

Lungar Gupp XVIII

1. Postings Tsunami. The annual transfers this year have come in the form of a virtual ‘tsunami’ in the Bank. It has been unprecedented in terms of the number of officers transferred, the ‘indispensables’ being shifted and the geographical limits till which they have been flung. And the process is still on !!

2. Poetic Justice . This refers to my earlier post regarding a senior officer raving and ranting about Security officers having joined the Bank after being court martialled from the Army. It was sweet music to the ears to hear that the said officer has been court martialled (transferred) to one of the ‘cold storage’ departments. Sadly the trappings of power could only be enjoyed for a very short time !!

3. Postings in our Cadre . It is believed that ten of our colleagues are being transferred this year. In line with the NEWS funda (North to South, East to West and vice versa both ways) expect major a shake up guys ! For example if you ask for Chennai you will get Mumbai, beg for Chandigarh and you’ll get Bangalore or from Delhi you want some centre in the same zone you are sure to get Chennai. This is ‘National Integration’ folks. And don’t you dare crib – you are supposed to be used to getting transferred every 2-3 years. You have served in the defence services blah, blah, blah !! One of my friends has been dogging me for quite some time now, so I will not be surprised if he follows me to my present location too. Pucca news will be available on 5th March – so keep holding your breath till then.

4. Pallav . I just got a call from Pallav this morning. He has joined a multinational company in Bangalore a couple of days back. I asked him how he had taken to the new organization. His words were “like a fish to water”. He says that he has been on a sabbatical for four years from the private sector to which he has now returned. I expect to see him more often now. Here is wishing him luck in his new assignment.

PS. All the above headings start with a ‘P’. This is coincidental but if you look after your ‘P’s the ‘Q’s will take care of themselves !!