Dear Friends,
As per PNB (Officers) Service Regulations
1979 20 (3) (I) I will cease to be in the service of the bank wef
31.03.2013 on attaining the age of superannuation. But I continue to be
in the service of the Bank for limited purpose. The relationship with
the bank which started with my grand father Late Lala Amar Nath
Kalra in Lahore in 1927 and continued by my father Shri Rattan Lal Kalra
since 1947, Chacha ji Shri Krishan Lal Kalra since 1946 my cousin Mr
Rakesh Kalra since 1972 and brother Mr Dinesh Kalra since 1976 is not
severed immediately. I wish someone in the next generation takes the
baton forward.
Lifelong association with spiritual organisations has
been relished by me. inspire by my Spiritual Guru I got this
inclination. My salute to that great soul. Then I remained associated
with the Divine Life Society Rishikesh & Ramakrishna Mission to read
Swami Vivekananda. Post superannuation I plan to remain closely
associated with Art of Living. I am as of now going to settle in
Bangalore next to the Art of Living Ashram on Kanakpura Road.This
association is brought to me by my son Mr Himanshu Kalra who is an
Investment Banker with Deutch Bank in London. I will also remain closely
associated with a project with my son-in-law Mr Gaurav Batra who is
involved in digitisation of Education. His innovative skills has made
it possible to make digital publications to learn the difficult lessons
of Science easily with animation. Shortly his company Nylytn Learning
Systems Pvt Ltd will make mark in the sector. I am also planning to
Start a Centre of Banking Excellance which I will like all to
contribute. For this I will like to get associated with the Institute of
Finance & international Management, Bangalore.
PNB is an institution to grow with. It gives
livelihood to its employees. It gives loans to millions for their self
employment. PNB has been Kamdhenu for three generations of Kalra's &
six members. May this great institution continue to grow & provide
employment to many more generations of not only Kalra's but also to many
of my colleagues and other meritorious people.
This week on my superannuation I am r,eceiving many
phone calls, SMS & posts on my facebook/linked in accounts. The good
wishes are pouring in from all four corners of the country where this
great bank gave me an opportunity to work & truly become an Indian
with pan India experience. I am receiving good wishes from
colleagues, clients, stake holders, Govt officials, NGO's and all kind
of constituents in Micro, medium & corporate sectors which this
great bank of ours gave me opportunity to interact & network with.
It is indeed a noble profession to be a banker & more so in PNB.
I recall with nostalgia that I joined this bank with
a batch of about 100 + colleagues as Management Trainee on 28.11.1977.
This added so many permanent friends to life. Joining as a batch builds
cadre loyalty and a kind of bonding which continues till date. I feel
proudly privileged that two of our batch mates have risen to become
Chairperson & Managing Directors: Mr RK Debey in Canara Bank &
Ms Archana Bhargava in United Bank. The galaxy of General Managers since
2010 have been in the key Management positions in the bank.
I personally was honoured with empanelment as GM in
2010 but a lending decision taken by me put my promotion on hold &
the pain continues. But I am honoured that this great bank of ours gave
me opportunity to hold responsible positions as Vice Principal CSC
(2001-02), as Regional Manager in Bathinda (2002-04), as Sr Regional
Manager in Sriganganagar (2004-07), as Zonal Manager/ Circle Head in
Northeast in Guwahti (2007-09) and as Circle Head Karnatka in Bangalore
(2009-11). Posting as DGM Financial Inclusion gave opportunity to remain
involved in policy making for this new ecosystem. I am also
honoured that the bank recognised my performance and gave
performance linked cash incentives for outstanding performance on four
occasions ever since the launch of the scheme in 2008-09.
I am beholden to the mentors I had in this bank. I
recall with grateful ness Mr AN Mukherjee, Mr VS Vasan, Mr HO Parkash,
Mr SK Uppal, Mr LD Adlakha, Mr Ramesh Lal, Mr RG Puri, MR SK Chawla,
Mr VN Saxena, Mr GS Asthana, Mr US Bhargava & Mr PL Khurana &
Mr BP Chopra. I have not worked directly with many Sr Officers but they
have been Icons in the bank. Some of them I have ventured to emulate by
studying their Management styles. Mr RV Shastri, Mr Prithvi Raj, Mr SK
Awasthi, Mr RIS Sidhu, Mr BM Mittal, Mr PK Mitra & Mr VK Sood just
to name a few.
Posting as Zonal Manager gave opportunity to
interact with the CMD's & ED's directly. Till that time I had only
indirectly been observing the Management styles of top Management. Three
CMD's had made landmark contributions to the bank to make it what it is
today. Mr Parksh Tandon, Mr VS Varshney & Mr SS Kohli. Dr KC
Chakrabarty gave it a vision & direction which he could not
implement before he was elevated to become Deputy Governor RBI. The
dream of the present CMD that Together we can Together we Will is taking
its time to percolate down to the ground. But time will tell his
contribution of making this bank neat & clean. As regards ED's I
feel that they keep low profiles to tide over the period to become
CMD's. Except that I found Mr DK Gupta, Mr Ramesh Lal & Mr Tanksale
& Mr Nagehsh Payda to be gentlemen of metal. It will not be
appropriate for me to comment on present team since my case is with
them. I have all & profound respects for them.
The professional journey in the bank
gave ample opportunity to have peers who became life time friends: The
list is really long but just to name a few Mr SK Arora, DGM CAD, Mr Anil
Bhan, DGM Recovery HO, MR SK Popli, DGM GAD, Mr YP Issar, Ex GM, Mr SR
Sharma, FGM Delhi, Mr Bl Patheja Mr Rajinder Mahajan, Mr GS Bhatia Mr SK
Goyal Mr Ved Parkash . Many colleagues treat me as their mentor and
have elated me time & again. The list is rather long. May be my
skills as faculty member has helped them to have my perception as their
Friend Philopspher & guide. I have personally recommended the names
of many for their promotions & postings. Many of them have proved to
be assets. Mr VK Sardana, DGM ZAO Jalandhar, Mr Lavleen Malhotra, DGM
South Delhi, Mr PS Chauhan, DGM Bulandshar just to name a few.
I have also remained closely associated with
stalwarts in the trade union movement of the bank. Mr PR Mehta stood
against the tide of time to make AIBEA a very strong force to reckon
with. Our association happened to get cultivated when we worked sitting
at desks next to each other in BO Chaura Bazar Ludhiana. Mr KD Khera has
rejuvenated AIPNBOA from hibernation in 1976 and he has his own style
to get the things done. He nurtured regional leaders but did not let
anyone supersede him at the centre till recently. Mr AS Krishanan became
personal friend when I inspected FEO Chennai in 90's.
Should you find me fit for anything it will be a
great honour. My respected father Shri Rattan Lal Kalra (86), my wife Ms
Rita Bajaj, my Son & daughter-in-law Supreetha & Himanshu
Kalra, my daughter & son in law Mansi & Gaurav Bajaj join me in
conveying our profound regards to all and place on record our thanx to this great organisation Punjab National Bank for what we are today.
Pl do remain in touch.
