Tribute to Admiral Jayant Nadkarni (Former Chief of Naval Staff (Indian Navy) 1987-1990)

(My tribute to Admiral Nadkarni on his demise. Dated 22 July 2018 at Pune, Maharashtra, India)

President Navy Foundation Pune, Members of the Pune chapter, the very special Golf four- ball who ensured that Adm.. Nadkarni played as long as he could, Ladies and Gentlemen.

It would be puerile on my part to summarize the naval career of Adm. Nadkarni. I know that a number of you have served under him, perhaps none here has been his peer and surely no one senior to him is present in this audience.

Exactly a year ago I paid tribute to a hero of the attack on Karachi and I began with what Gen Patton had said; "It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived".

Adm. Nadkarni certainly belongs to that category which exhorts or commends us to Thank God that he lived and that his inherent intellect guided the navy during a very difficult phase of our growth. 1987 to 1990 saw many ups and downs in our economy and the defence budget took a beating.

Yet during his watch much was achieved and those are listed on the internet. You don’t need me to elucidate those records. What I shall do today is to tell you a few stories that have perhaps never been told before. Let me at the outset state that I came to know more about him after I retired than while in service. After all, post retirement activities are truly reflective of one’s ability to contribute to the society as a whole. Apart from being the founding member of CAAS, IMF and the Patron of MHS which he handed over to me, he was also sought after by Academics and had even contributed to the print media with some incisive articles on affairs Maritime.

That he was least flamboyant, unflappable and extremely observant is known to many. Allow me to present a couple of anecdotes, which I believe have not been recorded. But before that, this is what Adm. Awati said within hours of Adm. Nadkarni’s departure. “Podgy was an accomplished navigator who had a special touch for the Haven-Finding art which I do not see since his days at sea in a ship or as the Commander of the Western Fleet. I hope my readers understand the point I have made in describing this officer in his heyday. I experienced it first-hand. None, to my knowledge, has matched him in the past fifty years or more. The quiet, self-effacing facade hid a steely determination to do right, always and every time, by his ships and men. He belongs to that immensely rare breed of men who display character. It was forged during his difficult teens and early adulthood when he had to struggle against adverse conditions at home, facing denials.” Having been the navigator of INS Delhi, he knew that ship pretty well. He made a name for himself and that has been recorded in the history of the navy titled ‘Blue print to Blue water’. When INS Delhi, which was under long refit had to be pulled out in 1961 for gun fire support to the Army off Diu, Capt. Krishnan (later Vice Admiral and C-in-C East during the 1971 conflict) asked that his old crew and especially Podgy as the navigator should be brought back on board. The rest is history.   And so years later while in command of INS Delhi which lay at anchor at Port Blair flying the Flag of the then C-in-C East, he remained confident and unflappable.  When the Capt. was told by the Admiral that he should leave harbour in total darkness, he promptly saw the opportunity to go fishing during the remaining day light hours- with two of his ship mates. The Capt. returned on board 15 minutes prior to weighing anchor and was on the bridge wings conning the ship out of Port Blair while casually chatting with his ship mates on the successful fishing expedition. This left the C-in-C speechless and rather neglected, perhaps.

The second anecdote is when he visited Moscow in the then powerful Soviet Union, He was to deliver a pre-dinner speech. The problem was that the carefully crafted and politically correct speech prepared by his NA and the Naval Attache was left behind at the Hotel. The Admiral had merely glanced at it. When he was invited to speak and realised that the papers were not quite there, he merely waived his hand and whispered to the NA that he had glanced at the points and that was enough. He was not a great orator and yet managed to convey his message effectively.

Of the many other stories, here is a true story narrated by Prof Gautam Sen who lives in Pune. “In 1993, Podgy took her (Mrs Nadkarni} on a holiday to Europe. He was my house guest in Florence for seven days where I was a Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute. She had already lost more than 60% of her vision. Every single day he would take her around Florence and give a continuous commentary explaining everything that came in the line of sight. But the most astounding thing was when he took her to the Da Vinci Museum and explained every Michael Angelo sculpture/ painting for nearly six hours. If you closed your eyes and only heard the voice of Podgy each item came to life. And there she was holding his arm listening and asking questions. Even some of the visitors trailed behind the two to listen to Podgy’s narration - an unusual display of his knowledge about art and architecture of the renaissance period to perfection. Not many may have known his deep understanding, study and appreciation of European history, its legacy of culture and the role of the Catholic Church. But what stood out was his devotion to her to ensure that she saw through his eyes exactly as you and I would see and remember Europe.” To bring him back to life today, I shall play a short extract of his interview that I recorded in March 2016, for the book on Ronnie Pereira. He was a great admirer of Adm. Pereira. He was the COS in quick succession to three legendary Admirals of our Navy. Adm. Pereira, Adm. Rusi Gandhi and Adm. Barboza. This is what he said to me.

Click to hear Adm. Nadkarni speaking about Adm. R.L Pereira

Let me conclude this chapter with the one I have chosen from a plethora of anecdotes narrated to me during the last week when I contacted a number of officers who had served under him. His NA who is not keeping too well narrated this one. Just prior to his retirement Adm. Nadkarni noticed that the navy had begun to pursue a new penchant for pre- retirement activities. Traditional activities such as wining out, dining out and pulling out had expanded to Golfing out, in some cases ‘tennising out’ and riding out too. Hence, he enquired with tongue in cheek whether he could be ‘Kabbadeed’ out as that was the only sport suitable for his podginess.

I gave a lot of thought to how I can conclude this tribute to Adm. Nadkarni. I think he would be delighted if we gave him a theen jai. Ladies and Gentlemen please rise- “THEEN JAI KE LIYE THAYYAR-ADM NADKARNI KI - JAI…….”

WHY DIGITIZATION IS A BOON AND A BANE

Private sector multiplies profit while the public sector exploits  corruption.

While tremendous strides have been made to bring in transparency and efficiency in the digitized economy of India, a section steeped in corruption ensures that the old inefficient and opaque system continues to prosper . There may be many examples but one each from the private and public sectors should suffice to educate and suggest remedial measures for the benefit of the "common man".

It is a well known fact that manufacture, information dissemination, billing and collection of payment in a vast array of products have promoted greater sales of modern utility goods in the digitized Indian market. My decade old car was up for sale. Examining multiple market friendly ventures to sell used cars, I decided to explore a relatively recent player. The website promised to deliver the following;

• Approximate sale price depending on basic parameters of the car
• A free- of- cost 45 minutes inspection of the car including all the documents which are mandatory.
• After the assessment of the expert,uploading the findings of the expert with photographs to the centre which then starts a process of auction among potential bidders.
• In 30 minutes of the above to show me the lowest and highest bids. If the bid is unacceptable no further action needs to be taken.
• In the event the bid is acceptable a 30 minute process of verification of documents and signing a joint agreement commences.
• The above process completes all necessary signature to meet mandatory requirements for resale  as stipulated by the RTO.
• The joint agreement then releases the seller from all responsibilities of the car.
• Finally the accepted bid amount is transferred instantly to the bank account of the seller.after deducting the nominal service charges.

Did all this happen? Indeed. In 15 minutes after closing the deal, I had  confirmation of receipt of money in the bank. The episode would be incomplete without the last mile connectivity with the RTO. One of the mandatory checks includes a visit to the traffic police site to check on unpaid challans for traffic violations as also accident related data if any. To my surprise there was an unpaid challan for Rs400 for a traffic violation caught on camera in 2017. Since I neither received an e mail or a telephonic message I was completely  oblivious to the misdeeds of my driver, I am told that we are required to visit this site from time to time. What if no payment is done? Well, you can't sell your car until it is done. Did anyone among my friends know about this silent camera- captured violation process? Not really. Hence this explanation.

 Could I have imagined such a tear less sale of my old car? Not at all. Full use of digital technology and completion of action within hours. All with a smile and a cup of coffee too.

Now coming to the story of how the babu, steeped in procedures functions  not only to tire you but to ensure that you follow an opaque system with built in guaranteed harassment. 

My driving license was due for renewal. This being a process once in 10 years or 5 depending on ones age, one is not aware of the impact of technology on efficiency of Govt run institutions. Getting a passport for instance has been streamlined through data exchange on internet. And so I visited the portal of RTO Pune. It also led me to a site run by a private operator who claims to deliver the prized document without tears. I opted for the tear less process of merely uploading all necessary papers including photographs. It was named appropriately as itseazy.com

After a few days of exchange of mails, I was asked to pay about six times or more of the official rate for renewal. "Aha," I said, pay more for no tears.

The final communication asked me to proceed to the RTO with my old card and meet their representative at the out gate.The entrance at the RTO was a bit overpowering due to hoards of people at every counter. At the out gate it appeared well nigh impossible to locate my interlocutor. In the event I did not have to. I received a call from a man who said he was watching me while seated on a scooter and he literary guided me to his location. One look at him and I realised that he was an agent who normally swings things in any Govt office. How on earth was he connected to the web portal its eazy.com?

The supreme confidence with which he outlined his plan made me wary of him. He asked me to proceed for a medical examination which was mandatory for license. I objected stating that the web service had not asked me to appear for a medical that too at a location as crowded as this. He was completely at ease with the developing situation and merely stated that he could arrange for a medical certificate if I merely followed his guidance.

I whipped out my cell almost like a cowboy at gun fight and phoned my service provider. The agent grinned and waited for my conversation to end. I was told that it was a minor oversight and that the payment made to them would take care  of the rest. I promptly grabbed all my papers from the agent and said that I did not need any license and that too from an agent of the RTO  whose role as a" pimp "should have vanished with the transparent internet based digital process. The agent followed me and advised me that at no time did he tell me to pay for the medical and what is more, I did not have to wait for more than 2 minutes to get a certificate. That said he turned around and was back in 30 seconds with a medical certificate pronouncing me fit and signed by a medical officer with a stamp on it.That done he collected my old license and promised me that my new license would arrive by speed post in 72 hours.

It is then that I realized that the old system of the "pimp" has been reincarnated by a private website which gives the necessary confidence to the customer but which is entirely dependent on the good old agent who in turn bribes all those in the pipeline. Now you can compute the profit margin of the website, the cut earned by the agent and the bribe up the chain including the Medical officer who never saw me. It struck me that I could have been blind and yet be cleared to drive.I had electronically transferred Rs 2000 for a job which costs Rs 300.

Now I engaged the agent in conversation on how he functions. He gladly shared his insights and gave  me a business card  with a caption "Any thing to be done with RTO" Indians are known to be innovative while avoiding taxes and creating channels for bribing. It is a win-win arrangement -unbeatable in concept and meticulous in execution. In parting, he hinted that those who come to him directly would need to pay only Rs 1000.

More recently I gathered that direct contact with the RTO at the crowded counters would have been sufficient if one had the patience. Look how wisely the plan has been hatched. The common man should receive the service at the counter a bit more efficiently without paying a bribe while other middle class and above customers who have internet facility may pay more. Thus my driver renewed his license without any tears,that too-at one sixth the cost!!

The pie'ce de re'sistance was when an affluent friend from Chennai claimed that he was harassed by the RTO of his zone while an adjoining zone was run transparently and efficiently. The modus operandi at the Agent- run RTOs appear to have been standardized  at the  National level. Money makes the world go round. Try beating the system!

     

My Love Story

IT is exactly 60 days since I lost my dearest possession of my life. Ironically it was 46 years ago that in an old quaint theatre in the Naval base at Kochi that both of us- newly married,watched the movie Love Story. No, it is just a sad story I thought. Cancer takes away a young wife.It was moving enough for Geeta to cry inconsolably. Many in the theatre were crying . The theme song would make anyone remotely connected with the theme cry!

But then the song became so popular that much like the hit songs of Bollywood, one heard it playing over and over again. Perhaps many of the current generation have heard the song.  It was etched in my memory not only for its lyrics but due to the ambiance of the thatched roof theatre for officers and men of the Navy. There was no Television at home and the latest Hindi movies were shown in theatres in town. But the base theatre was special. It did have regular shows for Hollywood hits too. Easy on the pocket when your take home pay was just Rs 400. A very disciplined crowd. The Officers were seated at the back on cane chairs-some times with bugs crawling out. But who cared!

KV was my immediate neighbour in a hired house opposite the Cochin shipyard. The Yard did not exist. Was it a mere coincidence that he too lost Lakshmi, his dearest possession a few years before mine. Geeta could not speak to KV to console him for well over a year. Much against statistical odds, we were to be neighbours twice more at Mumbai.  Lakshmi and Geeta were inseparables- perhaps they have joined hands again Now watch the song.......  Love Story Video

    

CHEMO OR NO CHEMO THE PERENNIAL DILEMMA

India has unexplored options

It all started in April 2016. My vivacious, loving and caring wife of 44 years with two children in their 40s and four grand children in their teens, began to lose weight. As a measure of tracking our health after retirement, routine blood checks were a norm at intervals of six months. Both of us were free of sickness of any description until one such routine blood check   in April 2016 revealed that her blood sugar levels had suddenly gone through the roof. A repeat test to rule out inconsistencies in computing the results confirmed that it was notably high. Visit to an Endocrinologist was the pressing option. In hind sight, no Doctor asked why it was a sudden occurrence. Metformin was prescribed along with strict sugar free diet. All seemed to be well with the blood sugar levels dropping to acceptable limits. 

By the end of 2016 the discomfort with increasing pain in the upper stomach radiating to the back and acute digestive complaints began to dominate her hitherto peaceful and joyful life. It is at this stage I shall link my story to my blog which narrates the first part of her journey through cancer. That it was declared a non-malignant pancreatitis in June 2017 is explained http://scsbangara.blogspot.com/2017/06/miracles-do-happen-from-malignant-to.html

Weight loss and pain from here on was consistent and if anything, on the increase. Repeated visits to specialists failed to alleviate the deteriorating status of her health.

Pain management became the first priority at this point. From June to September as care givers to her, my daughter and I found it debilitating to see her on regular pain killers ranging from Ultracet to Narcogen. The original diagnosis of non- malignancy began to be questioned even as we struggled with palliative pain management techniques called coeliac Plexus Block consisting of CT guided injection. That too failed to relieve pain.

A tumour board of oncologists reviewed the case and found it necessary to recommend two immediate procedures. Firstly, since an open surgery was resorted to for the samples that proved to be non- malignant, a EU guided intervention to establish the status of the tumour. Secondly  since her bilirubin count was on the rise with Jaundice setting in rapidly, PTBD/stenting was to be done.

By end September 17 it was categorically established that Gita had pancreatic cancer. The only known therapy was chemo and radiation. By then she had lost over 20 kgs of weight, she had acute jaundice, her blood sugar was being contained and her blood pressure had risen and her thyroid readings were abnormal. A combination of all this   prevented immediate commencement of chemo. Chemo and Radiation are the only options available in modern medicine.

During the course of this journey, I had ceased all commitments and activities and with the constant help of my daughter,son and my daughter-in-law, was deeply involved in care giving and understanding alternate medical cure which has been practiced  in India for centuries. Having been born before independence and having spent my early childhood in remote coffee growing plantations, an enduring memory was the total absence of pharmacies and Doctors in the immediate vicinity. It was rare for anyone who suffered illness not to be cured with herbal and organically produced food. Every illness had an immediate remedy. Jaundice as known to the West was cured with well identified juice of certain leaves. It was a well-known fact that animals and humans consumed similar herbal medication to remain healthy and physically fit. Sadly, the quality of medication depended on how well the knowledge transfer occurred between the Vaid and his selected successor. Since science and technology as known to the West was inaccessible to assess the success rate of cure and documentation along with record keeping was not mandatory, the trust reposed in the Vaid played an important role in overcoming the illness.

As it happened Gita needed medical attention and yet her body would not tolerate chemical intervention including pain killers. Yes we needed modern tools for immediate suppression of pain or to stabilize a critically ill patient. Rightly or wrongly, the family with Gita’s active participation decided that Ayurveda should form the backbone of her treatment while lab results and emergency care should be sourced from well known Hospitals. Now began the hunt to select a Vaid.

It is here that I would like to underline the process and its infirmities and strengths.  It is well known that Ayurveda has centuries of experience in well-structured methodologies and mechanism for identifying and administering medication. BUT, just as we need to identify good Doctors, we also need to carry out a critical assessment of available expertise in Ayurveda and Homeopathy. We used the following matrix;

• ·       Can we assess the success rate of cancer cure through identifying the survivors and interview them?
• ·       Is there a known channel such as whats app group which could facilitate communication with known Vaids ?
• ·       Is the Vaid notorious for commercial exploitation of patients or is it a mission due to circumstances that enabled his acquisition of knowledge.
• ·       Is he capable of understanding relative strengths of modern medicine and interpreting lab reports and scan results? 
• ·       Does he have an open mind to accommodate suggestions?
• ·       Finally, does he have the patience and time to have detailed discussions on patient’s reactions and tweaking of the medicines as appropriate.

By early October we had found the Vaid who met our QRs.  From then to the day Gita passed away we had the most satisfying and educative relationship with an octogenarian missionary who took to Ayurveda after he lost some close family members to this dreaded disease. Ayurveda does not believe that it is a disease. It is called a cell disorder which is eminently curable. Pancreatic cancer is a challenge and as known to many, both Homeopathy and Ayurveda do not claim to suppress pain. They treat the source of the malady.

Now I turn to what happened from October 17 to April 18. Lessons learnt by us form the integral part of this narration. It may throw up many more questions but that is how life is. No one guarantees that the patient will live but the quality of life during the healing process ought to be what the body can sustain with minimum intake of chemicals.

In end Oct 17,Herbal treatment with strict dietary restrictions commenced soon after examination of available CT Scan and PET Scan results. Our first detailed assessment with Gita in attendance was meticulous, incisive and interactive. At no stage did the Vaid give us an impression that he knew it all. His knowledge of interpreting lab results and other diagnostic tools indicated his ability to correlate scientific data with the whole-body approach adopted by our ancient practices. It was in stark contrast to the highly opinionated super specialist of a Hospital who listens less than he speaks. Most specialists spend the least amount of time with the patient and speak only on the area of their specialization. Ayurveda, as we understood was rooted in the belief that every part of the body is interconnected. When anyone of the parts is tinkered with it has significant impact on other parts too. Quantum physics and the approach to medical science as a consequence has many similarities with Ayurveda. Most of the drugs administered in hospitals have chemicals which are intrinsically rejected by the human body.  The latest statistics of death caused by Adverse Drug Reactions (ADR) are now being documented for posterity. Pain killers are normally unwelcome since they cause irreparable damage to the liver and kidney. However, patients suffering with pancreatic cancer have little option but to suppress pain to the extent possible.

Since the diagnosis in this case was delayed due to many reasons, we were faced with the dilemma of how to reduce the intake of pain killers. Ultracet, Ketrol and later Narcogen had left indelible scars in her body. Severe allergies were just one manifestation. In this context, let me dwell on pain management which becomes the backbone of patient’s comfort and her ability to participate in the treatment of the illness.

While the onset of pain was predictable due to the potency of the drug, it became necessary for my daughter and I to closely observe Gita’s conduct. Facial expression, body movements and energy levels were indicators to watch 24/7. By trial and error, we devised a combination of Reiki and acupressure techniques to ease the pain soon after its advent. By a constant tweaking process, we ensured that she suffered for the least possible duration of time. But, we were not able to materially reduce the dosage as the treatment had just begun. Time for absorption of herbal medication was a necessity.

The Vaid commenced simultaneous treatment for blood sugar, thyroid, blood pressure and jaundice.  Leaves of castor seed plants freshly picked three times a day were cleaned and juiced for a table spoon at a time. No refrigeration was permitted and it had to be fresh. That for instance was only for Jaundice. Similar herbal and other medication was to be administered almost every hour. 

By early December, all the parameters pertaining to the above were brought to normal as indicated by frequent blood tests and their analyses. No allopathic medicines except pain killers were required thereafter.

Using the principle that anything naturally grown or produced with no chemical addition is preferable, the Vaid had no objection to administering Hemp oil which is now available in India. In about a month, the pain management schedule began to show positive results. We were dreading the use of opiates which is normally the final pain reliever in this food chain. To our relief, the dosage of Narcogen and Ultracet reduced gradually till we reached one tablet a day and to zero tablets. This was a milestone event in her healing process. By February two more significant developments made us optimistic. Weight gain commenced and her tumour marker reading dropped to half its number.

We did not realise the downstream effects of continued pain killers of high potency for well over a year. Her kidney began to show signs of distress. Soon her heart began to pump less. Edema set in in all parts of her body and her protein levels dropped. To cut a long story short, despite critical care of hospitalization and ICU, she sank in the presence of all family members. She knew that she was going and had left behind very detailed instructions for all of us.

I lost my most valuable possession of my life. The pain does not permit me to give detailed readings of her body parameters during the remarkable journey through Ayurveda. I shall, after my recovery, share what little I have learnt from this experience.

What I know for sure is Western Medicine has no alternatives to Chemo and radiation. Looking back, would I have taken the Chemo route if given a chance. The answer is an emphatic NO. If anyone claims that he knows how the human body-the most complex mechanism ever created – works, tell him to work with alternative medicines and then assess whether he knows enough. Strangely a few Doctors that we had to interact with at reputed hospitals, supported our decision to use Ayurveda. That is a good sign for future application of shared knowledge to fight cancer, both to provide options, as also to make it affordable for those who are not covered by medical insurance or healthcare programmes.

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IS DEFENCE PLANNING COMMITTEE A NEW BEGINNING?

http://bharatshakti.in/defence-planning-committee-is-it-a-new-beginning/

My take published by the portal above

The New Scorpene Class-INS KALVARI is Reborn

From Foxtrot To  Scorpene, INS Kalvari is Reborn

(Courtesy The quint )

In anticipation of the Golden jubilee celebrations of the Indian denizens of the deep, my article posted on 16 Feb, interalia, referred to the Scorpene class submarine. Now that her trials have been successfully concluded, the PM is scheduled to commission the first of the Kalvari class submarine. The golden jubilee of the submarine arm was celebrated at Vishakhapatnam with much fanfare and joy on 08 Dec when the President presented the colours to the submarine arm.

As is the tradition, Kalvari and her sister ships will be reborn. S50 is the pennant number of Kalvari. It so happened that the golden jubilee preceded it by six days. Consequently during the life of this submarine her commissioning date cannot be easily forgotten. These are rare coincidences that occur in history.

The original Kalvari was a Foxtrot class submarine of the former Soviet union. Here too there is a tale to tell. Given the long acquisition process that is endemic to decision making structures in India, we had approached the UK in early 1960s to provide us our first submarine. Our consanguineous neighbour on the West had beaten us to it, due to her close association with the USA. PNS Ghazi their first submarine, albeit second hand, was operational by 1963. She was capable of long deployment having gone around the cape of good hope for an upgrade to Turkey in 1968. Perhaps that was the main reason for deploying her off Vishakhapatnam during the 1971 war. That she sank just outside Vizag is now part of our maritime history.  

A hand- picked Indian submarine crew was deputed to the UK in 1964 , in anticipation of procuring the British Oberon class submarine. Mr YB Chavan the then RM was negotiating with USA and UK. The Americans flatly refused to provide naval hardware to India. The British, due to down scaling of their own Navy were unable to provide soft loans for the Oberon class. It was at this stage that the Soviet Union stepped in to rescue us and the rest is history. Kalvari was the first of eight Foxtrot class submarines to be commissioned into Indian naval service in Dec 1967.  

Those who proudly manned these Soviet built sturdy machines often spoke of the near perfect safety standards of the boat through inbuilt redundancies that kept her afloat during many an emergency. In all the Foxtrot submarines built and operated by first the Soviets, later the Russians and six international customers only one was lost to fire and explosion.

Having learnt to operate the Foxtrots under combat conditions too, our submariners graduated to the German SSK and the Russian EKM or Kilo class submarines with great ease.

The new Kalveri has been built by the Mazagaon docks at Mumbai under contract from DCNS of France. Although the yard had gathered invaluable experience from the Germans when two submarines of German origin (SSK) were built, the entire trained manpower was lost due to the termination of the project caused by alleged corruption in the deal.

The French stepped in two decades later but the project suffered inordinate delays due to contractual discrepancies. Consequently the force levels of operational submarines had to face depletion. Kalvari commenced her trials under a cloud when it was alleged that confidential parameters of her design were leaked due to  competing commercial interests .Reportedly, investigations have revealed that  vital parameters have not been compromised.

Given this background, commissioning of Kalvari is a long awaited event that should bring relief to this  professional arm of the navy. But that is just one part of the story. As early as in 1999, the navy had submitted a submarine build programme that needed a second line of production to sustain the existing force levels as also to maintain a credible operational profile of the conventional force. That plan has languished for almost two decades. Needless to say that long gestation periods for decision making and time line of manufacturing in India  can only lead to history repeating itself. Deja vu?

HOW GETTING A CREDIT CARD CAN BE MORE PAINFUL IN A PRIVATE SECTOR BANK

PUBLIC SECTOR BANK OUT PERFORMS PRIVATE SECTOR BANK

About two years ago, I shared my poor experience with ATM machines belonging to a private sector bank. It was titled, "Deceived by ATM or Bank?". It was  so well received that the Bank in question reacted to the public pressure  on social media and resolved the issue which until then appeared to have been buried without an answer!. The Bank also was sensitive to posts on FB and apparently had an efficient method of following complaints on social media.

The private sector bank now in question, has so far shown little concern to customer relations. I shall name the bank at the end of the article. Here goes my story.

A multinational bank which was handling my accounts was scaling down operations in India, which urged me to look for a private sector Indian bank to fill the void. I selected a bank with which we had no previous experience and one which needed to be tried based purely on its performance data available from open sources. Customer relations per se in India is yet to come of age. Poorly trained staff  appear to be the malaise in almost all sectors of Indian Industry and the private sector as a whole. My very first visit to a newly opened branch, confirmed my fears on the subject. Hence I decided to test the efficiency of the bank  over a period of time before committing more of my savings and investments after retirement. The financial sectors have realised that the best customers are retired pensioners who have very few financial burdens to carry.They are hence targeted for "lucrative schemes" as seen by the bank.

Having maintained a healthy balance in my savings account, I thought it was time to apply for a credit card of the same bank. An interesting category called "Business Regalia first" was my choice. My inquiries were well received and in a reasonable time frame, an agent arrived at my residence. Having satisfied himself that I am indeed an account holder, he got the paperwork completed briskly and claimed that under 10 days I should be a proud owner of the card.

In about three weeks, the card arrived by post. An impressive set of papers accompanied the card. It had detailed instructions on about four methods of obtaining the pin to operate the card. The tearless and digital friendly procedures outlined in the document lulled me into sanguinity-a state best avoided while dealing with such matters- as I was to discover soon.

Needless to say not one of the methodologies outlined in the instructions resulted in generating a pin.A standard response told me to visit an ATM or a branch to do the needful. Having failed at an ATM which would blank out at the very last step, I had no option but to visit the branch office. By now I had invested considerable time and effort to generate a pin.

The staff, more than one,tried all that was possible, including getting the customer care to help.You are all familiar how an automated message guides you to press various numbers just reach an operator.  I was left with no option but to visit the Manager. He too went through repeated attempts without success. He neither had the powers nor the ability to reach out to a senior officer of the appropriate section to help his own customer. So much for efficiency and delegation of powers to solve problems.


The point to note is that a pin was to arrive by mail for the additional card to be  activated. It never did.

After a few attempts on another day, 'Bingo' screamed the Manager. We got a four digit pin!! It was like a lost man in a desert who just found some waterhole which is not a mirage. Praise the Lord!!
I rushed to see whether it works at an ATM. It generated my balance statement using this very precious card issued by no less a bank than HDFC.

The very next morning, I used my card at an outlet for shopping. Rejected on three attempts for incorrect pin,I rushed to the manager to give him this news. Saturday, the second of the month,Bank closed! ATM has no money even to use my debit card. Incidentally, the ATM at this branch is mostly out of cash. Four out of five times, I use the ATM of another bank,located next door to get cash without fail.

Come Monday, I present myself to the horrified manager who has no answers but throws more questions as if to crucify me. Convinced that the issue which had become a riddle,was beyond the capabilities of the manager of a new branch opened at a business friendly center, I embarked on the next logical step.

Any well meaning organisation would have easily accessible, customer- friendly assistance mechanism. Not our bank. Try to complain and you will know what I mean. It starts at the lowest rung of the ladder and worse it will tell you why no action can be take for the next three days. The next mail will tell you what you already know and  in fact you are no wiser. But here is the catch. It will provide another mailing address which is a rung higher, should you have the patience to list your grievances all over again. You now express your deep resentment, for, only a yogi can survive with no anger for all the ill deeds and no apology from the bank. What is a month of inaction for a customer who has all the time to chase a four digit number?
The bank is always right -not the customer!!

In the interim i was flooded with messages that if i enter a temporary number until such and such date, I would be instantly blessed with a four digit number which will open the gates to heaven. My suggestion for a pin by mail was never implemented. Having made many such attempts at ATMs, I was not inclined to chase another mirage.

After well over a month of this tortuous journey,  this morning I received a call asking my concurrence to send me a pin by mail-a suggestion that I alluded to at every stage.. I told the lady at the other end that I was not begging for a credit card and I have come to the conclusion that I am banking at the wrong bank. SBI my parent branch has never given me cause to complain.

I merely told the poor lady that I had found a good shredding machine which at my command would instantly shred the revered Business Regalia card and give me immense pleasure.

I forgot to add, I visited the FB page of the bank, only to see scores of complaint pending for action. When I found a more discrete mode on FB, which promised early action, I received a message to state that I could reveal the branch details and that my identity would be fully protected if I state the facts as they unfolded. When will they overhaul the customer care process to make it flat and address the grievance of the customer-not protect the inefficient and insensitive people who tenant it?