Return on Investment – In people

"I don't want to go home! Please!"

Several attempts at getting across by phone to the Air Lanka office in Mumbai, Delhi & Colombo were futile. It was not late in the day, but nothing seemed to be working in our favour. We took a break.

It was past 6:30 pm, usually time for a leisurely chit-chat over tea and snacks before packing-up and heading home, after a pretty hectic day at the College of Agricultural Banking (CAB) Pune, a training institution of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for in-service bankers. At the request of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), we had opened our doors to receive a team of women farmers from Sri Lanka. Being farmers, classroom lectures as a medium of training would not work, especially since the audience spoke Sinhalese. So, the program was designed to visit various locations around Maharashtra to study innovative farming practices. I was thrilled to be chosen to coordinate the program, as I always enjoy being around people who are close to the ground.

As we were getting ready to sink our teeth into the hot samosas served by Subhash, our canteen manager, two of the ladies from the batch of farmers approached us. One of them was writhing in pain in the lower abdomen and requested to be taken to a doctor. In our own conventional wisdom, and following our instinct, we felt that the best option was to send her back home by the first available flight, so she can be in the company of her family, take rest and get the necessary medicare.

But the lady was in tears, adamant, and pleaded with me not to send her back. Our plans to ferry her back to Sri Lanka were thus put on hold, later aborted. I and my colleague Mrs Sukhada Gole (https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/sukhada-gole-8886a137/) took the lady to Joshi Hospital, where a doctor in attendance asked her several personal questions via me, to cross the language barrier (Mrs Gole had left by then as she had other pressing work at home after picking up her daughter from college). As the two of us waited for the doctor to get the medical reports and give his findings, I engaged in a conversation with her and enquired a few facts about her and her family. Coming from a small rural place, her husband was a truck driver who ferried goods across the conflict zone between the territory controlled by the Sri Lankan Government and that under the control of the Tamil Tigers (LTTE). Though doing this was fraught with risk to life, the income was better than on other routes, and so he was able to take a break after each trip. She was Sinhala, but my ability to speak in Tamil, though limited, served as the common link. The doctor diagnosed her as having a kidney stone that required non-invasive surgery. Administering pain killers to manage the immediate situation, we started working our contacts to get a slot for surgery at the earliest. Fortunately, at such times, the RBI name works. We could get a slot in two days at the hands of a reputed surgeon at Jahangir hospital. And to her good luck, CBSL had purchased s medical insurance policy that covered her medical condition with just Rs. 500 to be paid as deductible. CAB, the ever wonderful host, covered other incidental costs that insurance would not cover.  

Having organised things for the next steps to be taken care by other competent colleagues, I started the next morning on a cross-country trip with the rest of the Team by bus, with the first port of call being Aurangabad, as the programme combined the right blend of studying agricultural practices with visiting Buddhist heritage sites like Ajanta and Ellora, customized for a group of women farmers who may not get another chance in their lifetime to visit India.

On returning from the trip, I got updated on how the surgery was a success, and the lady was making good recovery. To ensure she was well cared for with least discomfort, and so as not be all alone in the hostel, Mrs Gole invited her to stay at her home till the rest of us were back from the trip.

This being one of the 3 to 4 back-to-back training programmes we were doing for CBSL, the Deputy Governor (DG) of CBSL was invited to visit CAB. Having been briefed about the lady who had been under our care, one of the first things he did on arrival was to meet her. The rest of the programmes went as per schedule, including a trip we organised for the DG CBSL to Lonavala and Mahabaleshwar. Being strawberry season, we all enjoyed loads of it, freshly harvested.

A few months later, while we were on to our normal routine of trainings, Mr Khan, the Principal CAB got a call from the DG, CBSL. It was an invitation from CBSL for me to visit Sri Lanka. On seeing the letter of invitation from CBSL, the Consulate in Mumbai refused to even charge for the issue of Visa, and it was stamped 'Courtesy/Gratis' (photo)

That was how me and a colleague, Mr RN Dash (https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/r-n-dash-1858a9142/) were invited as state guests of the Governor of CBSL to conduct a Training for the Bankers of Sri Lanka, and enjoy their hospitality for full ten days. The view from the CBSL tower where we conducted training was breath taking, overlooking the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean. CBSL also organised our visit around the country, including places like Kandy, Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage and the Temple of the Tooth among others.

I fell in love with Sri Lanka and its people, made many friends, and several trips, personal and official thereafter, to what almost became my second home.

Invest in people. It pays!