Thinking Big!

Razia Khan

Razia Khan popped an interesting proposal that won her instant support. “Why don’t we open a bank?” she suggested. “Every joker seems to be opening a bank these days. We’ll name our bank ‘Big Laaf Co-operative Bank Limited’. All our members shall be on its Board of Directors. And then we'll scoot with the cash!”
Hilarious as this may sound, Razia appeared dead serious. Having sunk her lifetime savings in the beleaguered PMC bank (ref post of September 25), she has been at her wits’ end on how ordinary citizens are supposed to secure their cash. In sharing her concerns, she betrayed a complete loss of faith in the banking system.
But unlike the day-before-yesterday, she did not allow despondency to get the better of her.

Mulling over the bank debacle

The announcement of raising the withdrawal limit from Rs1,000 to Rs10,000 might have made a difference. But more than anything, the chanting of “PMC, PMC, PMC…” instead of counting “1, 2, 3, 4…” during the exercises helped bring some cheer in the China Hut. This was just another way of turning adversity into advantage.
And so the jokes flew thick and fast – as did rumours. One strong rumour suggests that a tall, mythical sardar-ji claiming to be a PMC director, used to visit the Garden every evening. Apparently he prevailed over Celebration Club next door to pump all its funds into PMC. He can no longer be sighted!
Part of the reason for such forced humour is an unmistakable streak of optimism that has crept into depositors like Razia. The festive season is round the corner and so is the state election. The general feeling is that the ruling BJP will per force intervene next month and resolve the issue by Dussehra-Diwali. Or else, it will not get our votes!
In other words, this PMC bank debacle is nothing but a political stunt.

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd):
This club has taught us many lessons. One of them is how to be happy even in adversity. Our esteemed members are trying to remain cheerful in a difficult situation. All the same, those having accounts with PMC Bank should form an association and represent the case to all prospective MLAs to sort out the issue. Wish you all success.