Product Description
Do you know what it meant when bankers said “Chinese cuisine”, “Punjabi food”, or “Gujarati thali”?
An RBI governor let down his hair at his farewell dinner to swing to “Lungi Dance” from the Shahrukh Khan starrer Chennai Express.
The chairman of a financial institution relied on “signals” from the idol of a goddess kept in his cabin for clearing loan proposals.
A public sector bank chairman liked to munch hot chilies with his lunch. A kitchen help was deputed to mop up the sweat from his bald head!
Roller Coaster is a string of such stories and revelations from the country’s foremost banking journalist’s affair with the industry—even though banks were not ideal partners for such liaisons. He has seen the industry and dramatis personae grow over two and a half decades, first as a rookie reporter, then as an editor and a columnist, and, finally, as an author.
The book brings to light the lives of India’s commercial and central bankers. But it does not discuss their successes, failures, or the ever-evolving dynamics of monetary and fiscal policies. It’s about their persona, warts and all—how they are as leaders, how they evolved, and how they changed the culture and ethos of the Indian banking sector.
Dive in for inside information about some of the biggest names associated with Indian banking—Uday Kotak, Sandeep Bakhshi, Amitabh Chaudhry, V. Vaidyanathan, as well as C. Rangarajan, Bimal Jalan, Y. V. Reddy, D. Subbarao, Raghuram Rajan, Urjit Patel, Shaktikanta Das, and many more.
Product description
Review
“A no-holds-barred narrative of the key people behind India’s banking and financial system.”
Deepak Parekh, chairman, HDFC
“Tamal has brilliantly captured the many diverse hues of these vigilant, perceptive, and sharp-eyed bunch of people who were lords in their own right.”
Harsh Goenka, chairman, RPG Enterprises
“Enough is being written on how banks are run and the nuances of central banking, but this book tells us the untold stories of the bankers.”
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Rare Enterprises
“A keenly observed, often hilarious account of Indian banking seen up close.”
Suman Bery, vice chairman, NITI Aayog
“A gifted teller of anecdotes—funny, poignant.”
Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar, consulting editor, The Economic Times
“A larger story about Indian banks that you will not find in any textbook or even a business newspaper.”
T. N. Ninan, former editor, the Business Standard and The Economic Times
“A fascinating tapestry of the lighter and darker side of Indian banking.”
Shekhar Gupta, founder and editor-in-chief, ThePrint
About the Author
TAMAL BANDYOPADHYAY is an award-winning author and the columnist behind the weekly column “Banker’s Trust”, widely read for its incisive analysis and informed opinion. His books A Bank for the Buck, Sahara: The Untold Story, Bandhan: The Making of a Bank, From Lehman to Demonetization, HDFC Bank 2.0: From Dawn to Digital, and Pandemonium: The Great Indian Banking Tragedy have all been nonfiction bestsellers.
