Page 23 - A Banker Down the Rabbit Hole

demolished outer wall; of course the envelope was under the vigil of my
mother, sitting nearby, under the sun.

I opened the letter. This had a name of the sender printed on the
envelope as the bank where I had applied for the post of Probationary
Officer. I opened it with great excitement expecting a positive news and
lo there it was. I, along with my family was overjoyed to find an
appointment letter for the post of Probationary officer (Junior
Management Grade Scale I) with instructions to join the Training Centre
of the bank. The Induction Training program was for a period of 4 weeks
along with 35 other selected candidates at Camp Training Centre at the
State Capital.

That day I got two good news, one on the family front and another on
career front after a few disappointments. It was a heartening news and
a great consolation for me, as a few days prior to that I had missed an
opportunity of clearing the IAS main examination by a thin margin.

I waded through the appointment letter thoroughly to understand all the
terms and conditions. It was interesting to read some curious terms and
conditions first time in my life. I could not understand from the Basic Pay
of Rs.455/- plus "Allowances as per rules" as to how much total
remuneration I should get every month. Not many people had heard the
name of this bank as there was no branch of this bank in our city. I got
in touch with one of my friends who had another friend in this bank. I,
being a lower middle class individual, more so, born in a farming family,
was so curious to know the total remuneration offered that I waited
anxiously the whole day next.

My joy knew no bounds when my friend told me that my gross salary
would be Rs.1185/- + Rs 15/- as water scarcity allowance at the place of
posting (about 40 years ago). I was to stay there for six months to one
year for an on-the-job training and the probation period. The starting
salary of an IAS Probationer used to be around Rs. 850/- per month and

20 | A Banker down the Rabbit Hole