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Erudite and elegant, this couple’s understated presence is in sharp contrast to their uber achievements. And even as Ajay Bagga along with his better half, Rajita Kulkarni Bagga let Corporate Citizen in on their journey thus far, it is amazing to note just how singular both their profiles are. Ajay Bagga is a widely recognised name from the world of finance with over 30 years of experience having led assorted sectors on the cusp of change. His glittering resume includes names like Citigroup, Global Electric and Deutsche Bank. With a PGDM from XLRI Jamshedpur, he is the youngest CEO of the Mutual Fund industry at 36, heading Kotak Mahindra Asset Management and Lotus India Asset Management. He was the MD for Deutsche Bank, leading its private wealth management division. He is a private investor in both the public and private spaces and serves on the boards of many companies. He has served as the Chairman of the Financial Planning Standards Board of India. A prolific writer and communicator, he is a regular contributor to electronic and print media with more than 5000 TV appearances and 100 articles.

Rajita Kulkarni Bagga is a successful banker turned educator. She is the President, Sri Sri University and a dedicated Art of Living mentor. Besides, she is FICCI India National Higher Education Council; CII Co-Convener Eastern Region Education Council; Mentor of Change Atal-Innovation Mission and Niti Ayog, Govt. of India. Her maiden book, ‘The Unknown Edge: A Mystical Journey of Self Discovery’ has received rave reviews. Both believe that the tragedy called Covid-19 has important transformational lessons for both the financial sector and society

Ajay Bagga

At the Cusp of Change

CORPORATE CITIZEN: TELL US ABOUT YOUR CHILDHOOD…

Ajay Bagga: I belong to the first generation of a post partition Punjabi home which was a predominately agricultural family with very strong roots in the armed forces and allied forces. For instance, my father’s elder brother retired as DGP Gujarat; my granduncles fought in World War I and II. My uncles were in the military police or IAS. My maternal grandfather retired as a top officer from the Indian Postal Service despite having suffered a demotion when the British Raj gave way to the Government of India and the Royal Mail Service became the Railway Mail Service.

My grandfather was solicitor general of the North West Frontier Province. In those days, they would drive their convoy from Peshawar to Karachi, all the way to the sea, thus highlighting that, it was a very rich family that lost everything in the Partition. It so happened that the family was on a summer break in India and could never return as the riots broke out. My grandfather tried his best to go back but was stopped en route, because of risk to his life.

Since Independent India would not recognise my grandfather’s law license, he had to appear for the bar all over again, then register himself as an advocate at the Delhi High Court, where he enjoyed a long and rewarding career late into his eighties. He did charity, fought cases for the poor. So, despite our private troubles, that resilience and sense of serving the nation was ingrained in us as a family.

Thus, from the outset, my family focused on education and encouraged us to speak our minds. From Std. II itself, I was the class representative precisely for my ability to speak my mind. At home, my grandmother and I would play a game that laid the seeds of my interest in finance. She would say: I need change, I don’t have any money, will you give me some? So I would go to my piggy bank, give her the necessary amount and within an hour or two, I would charge her 100 per cent interest. On her part, she would return from her shopping trip and happily double my money.

CC: Were you inclined towards having a career in finance?

Honestly, my upbringing was clearly more inclined towards administration. I was studying at Hindu College where most of the students were studying for the civil services. The turning point came when my elder brother got through IIM-Bangalore, did his MBA and joined Citibank. That really inspired me. I also sat for my MBA and got through XLRI. So, from there on life changed for me. A few of my batchmates did end up joining the IAS. I too thought, I would appear for the administrative services at some point but that didn’t happen. I moved to finance and enjoyed myself thoroughly.

CC: You were country head and MD for Deutsche Bank where you led its private wealth management division. Did you pioneer this division and how much has it grown now in India?

No. It was already in existence in a small way. But Deutsche Bank used to be a corporate bank; so, individual customers and wealth were a very small part of its work.

At Deutsche, we had as many as 27 of India’s top 100 Indians on our accounts and relationship list. It was great to meet personalities you saw on television in their homes and family offices. The learning curve was steep. Family succession was a major arena of work. As a banker, one was privy to that confidentiality along with the lawyer, of course, and I had many wills in my locker room. It was a great responsibility. So, in a couple of high profile cases, I knew where the elderly man or elderly lady wanted the money to go and since we had the wills with us, we had to go and tell the court.

Subsequently, private wealth has seen high growth globally. Within India, the success of the IIFL Wealth & Asset Management tells its own story. Post the 2008 financial crisis, Central Banks pumped in trillions of dollars, which led to huge wealth creation around the world. Thus, being a millionaire or multi-millionaire is far from a rare thing these days. Take for instance, Whitney Wolfe Herd, CEO and Co-Founder of Bumble App in the US who listed her app just recently, which was valued at $2.3 billion. Which made her a billionaire overnight so, wealth creation globally and within India is not tough.

CC: What were the other strides in private banking that you observed during your banking tenure?

Credit cards had been newly introduced and honouring them was a matter of pride. I remember when Infosys was doing its Global Depository Receipt (GDR), I had a call from one of the founders. He had tried to pay the hotel bill for the conference and the card was declined. I was on the phone, making calls right up to New York and Singapore, stressing that the card had to be honoured and that it was a matter of India’s prestige. Another time, a CEO was out of money. My colleague in New York, went over and gave him the cash he needed. This was well before the time of insta credits, Western Unions and RTGS. Those were paper based days. Of course, today private wealth has become a high growth zone globally. Another time, when a private equity fund took over an Indian company, I knew both sides well.

It’s a function of wealth unlocking in society; a function of capital markets becoming so huge along with the growth, that there’s expansion of money supply plus the fact that more and more products are coming in.

When Rajita and I were in Citi Bank we were just offering fixed deposits and some bonds and shares. Then in 1995 Mutual Funds came in a great many products are now available under this umbrella now. Succession planning is the next big thing now as most entrepreneurs in India with the exception of the Tatas, Birlas and a few other old world players, are first-generation entrepreneurs. I see this as a sunrise industry. It will just keep growing.

"Succession planning is the next big thing now as most entrepreneurs in India with the exception of the Tatas, Birlas and a few other old world players are first generation entrepreneurs. I see this as a sunrise industry"

CC: The advent of Citibank threw up a whole new culture in the private banking sector. Tell us more about it…

Citibank had a startup culture; we would joke that it would be a different company every year. Sometimes it was product-based, sometimes it was geographical based and sometimes it was function-based; just as you got used to something, they’d change everything.

John Reed, the Citibank chairman had invented ATMs, way back in the sixties. Outsourcing was a concept he introduced in the seventies. He took corporations South of Manhattan (high-cost area of New York) to low cost areas. We were lucky under Jerry Rao, the then CEO of Citibank to be doing things like that; Ashoke Dutt, the then Global Consumer Bank head, Citibank India, really built the cards business in India we imbibed a lot of learnings from these pioneers.

Looking back, all the organisations I worked for had very different cultures. For instance, Citibank was all about a maverick culture that said: just do it and build it. The systems will be put in place along the way. GE Capital, on the other hand, had a very methodical culture, they were very big on processes, they’d take it slow and steady and then scale up. Deutsche, for its part, was very transformational, very German in values. I actually saw people work there for as many as 50 years. Naturally, anyone would wonder: how on earth does anyone work for 50 years at a single place? The answer would be: “I started off as an apprentice in high school; the bank paid for my graduation and I kept working with them. Thereafter, post-retirement, I am again helping out”. The steadiness had its own benefits. For example, I learnt shipping finance from a person who had only done shipping finance for 45 years in Germany. He was the one who told me: no, you don’t recall any loans in shipping because it’s cyclical. Besides, you can’t repossess a ship, so you just stay with the customer forever. At the point that you let the customer in, that’s when you decide this is a marriage! The learning was a revelation in so many ways.

CC: Talking about the Financial Planning Standards Board of India of which you were the erstwhile chairman, can you explain what exactly it is and whether citizens are taking the help of these professions?

This is a global mark called Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and as many as 40 financial companies from India got together to bring it to India. The certification is from the US but the regulations and syllabus are Indian. Some financial planning standards are universal but the curriculum is largely India-based. I served as VC on its board and then took over as chairman for a term. It’s running well. So, the whole theme is to help people plan their finances better. If you meet someone with a CFP mark you can be assured that it is an ethical practice being run by someone with competence and integrity. It’s done very well globally, while in India it’s an emerging certification but very popular in financial circles.

CC: What kind of degree do you need before you work towards this certification?

You need to be a graduate but some amount of leeway is given for someone who is a mutual finance distributor/insurance agent/corporate distributor. Also, if you are a CA or a CFA some papers may be waived off; besides, if you have experience running a business or happen to run an independent financial advisory, you are given some waivers.

CC: What has changed post-Covid for corporations and business philosophically, financially and ethically?

For starters, people really reprioritised their lives. They realised how much they were neglecting their family time. As per research, two of the biggest regrets that people have on their death beds are spending too much time at work and not enough with their loved ones. Many realised the error of their ways and corrected that.

Economically speaking, April to June saw worldwide destruction. Right now, it’s a V-shaped recovery in large pockets but overall, it’s K-shaped. Manufacturing came back fast enough whatever one could stimulate, recovered. But services like travel, tourism, hospitality and aviation will take time getting back to normal. Aviation is down by as much as 40 per cent.

Asset owners with shares, property and gold did very well but a large number of people (about 50 to 60 per cent globally) didn’t have the savings to fall back on. And they were the ones who lost the most jobs. White collared people like us had the option to keep our jobs through work from home mode. For instance, Rajita is running an entire university online! But frontline workers, including those working for the municipality and healthcare, suffered the maximum loss of jobs. They are not well paid either. As per CMI (Credit Managers’ Index) estimates, India is down by as many as 19 million jobs.

Sure enough, people saved a lot globally provided they had those jobs. Inevitably, there was a lot of revenge consumption the moment things opened up. Real estate prices came down worldwide whether it was New York or Los Angeles or San Francisco as people moved to the suburbs.

The Covid-19 economic destruction is comparable to the fiscal bloodbath of 1929 and the great depression. That generation was scarred and risk-averse for life. In this pandemic, many have seen death in the family or known of someone close enough, breathing their last due to the pandemic.

People of my generation have made their money, it’s the youth who have suffered the most. As for children, many have lost a year at school. What impact the pandemic has had on them as they saw their parents lose jobs and become risk-averse, only time will tell.

As many as one crore stock trading accounts were added last year, the Robinhooders, so to speak. Pretty much everyone thinks they are a stock trader. However, one doesn’t know when the stock market will turn. But we are far from fundamentals. We need jobs, we need the service industry to get back on its feet. The government is trying its best but it will take a year at least for things to visibly improve.

"People of my generation have made their money, it’s the youth who have suffered the most. As for children, many have lost a year at school. What impact the pandemic has had on them as they saw their parents lose jobs and become risk averse, only time will tell"

CC: Could you give us the lowdown on the role of Banking Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI) in India’s ambitious $5 trillion economy?

BFSI is the highway of the entire economy. Of the Indian market, 38 per cent of the share belongs to banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs). Next come IT, pharma, oil and gas because Reliance happens to be so big in the sector. Simply put, the financial sector provides the lubrication for money to move around from farmers to small businessmen and hawkers, to the big businessman as well as to the aspirational middle-class. It safeguards the savings of millions. Everyone needs a safe place to save their money. Thus, the strength of a developed economy lies in a secure BFSI sector. Traditionally, we have always had a sound BFSI sector in India over the centuries all those moneylenders, sethjis and the hundi system helped strengthen trade. But over the last 30 to 40 years, particularly since nationalisation, things went from bad to worse due to bad loans.

In the days to come, I see big things happening in three sectors: Fintech, Edutech and Healthcare tech. Healthcare tech will change the way doctors reach out to their patients doing away with the need to sit in a waiting room with 40 other sick people, possibly with infectious diseases. If the doctor can manage to do an online consultation, won’t that be such a big and positive thing?

Similarly, while edutech will change the way we receive and perceive education by making knowledge available online, fintech will liberate BFSI from the old methods of conducting business. For instance, there are so many new startups that lend to even those without Aadhaar cards based on business data. Speaking of small scale loans or microfinance, they were such a revolution in India financing the women’s self-help groups and making dreams possible for so many people. How else, for instance, a beedi or plantation worker would have got the credit? But now, fintech is going even further by making money move faster.

It’s a simple equation really. As money moves faster, the economy expands in tandem with it. So, every rupee you pump into the banking system results in a growth of at least four rupees, demonstrating what we call the money multiplier effect. Similarly, when you invest in infrastructure you invest in the economy; whether you choose to make a road, a port or an airport, you are linking up the economy. And the amount of money going into digital development, I would consider that too as infrastructure development. None of us knew, for instance, just how bad our web connections were until recently. And if the country hadn’t spent on fibre optics we wouldn’t have been having this conversation. Companies ran their respective ships digitally during corona.

Similarly, the Jan-Dhan accounts, Aadhaar cards and mobility brought in by Prime Minister Modi, has revolutionised BFSI. Now, Corona will revolutionise it even more, where everything will be United Payment Interface (UPI) and based on criteria beyond distance and infrastructure. So, every industry will become software with a bubble around it. For example, did you know that the luxurious German car Mercedes is recalling so many of its cars simply because of a software problem? Turns out that when the car has a problem, the first responders are reaching some other place other than where the car is. Thus, you see, everything will be about software in the days to come, including BFSI. We have always been heavy spenders on technology and now it will take BFSI into another zone altogether. In the days to come, it will really expand and prove itself to be another sunrise industry for the economy. Fintech, without a doubt, will be the biggest portion of the entire technology revolution.

"Asset owners with shares, property and gold did very well but a large number of people (about 50 to 60 per cent globally) didn’t have the savings to fall back on. And they were the ones who lost the most jobs. White-collared people like us had the option to keep our jobs through work from home mode!"

CC: What is the economic future of India?

As a nation, we have completed 75 years of independence. Over the next 25 years, it is my prediction that we will leap into growth and development like never before.

Here, I’d like to mention something rather interesting in terms of India’s position in the scheme of things. Professor Angus Maddison, when he studied 2,000 years of the global economy pointed out that until 1700 AD India was the largest economy in the world contributing as much as 30 to 40 per cent of the world’s GDP. Our population, natural resources and landmass worked out in our favour. We lost out due to 300 years of colonialism.

China, the other Asian giant in our neighbourhood, started its financial regeneration in 1979, twelve years ahead of us. The Indian economy opened up in 1991 thanks to Dr Manmohan Singh’s liberalisation policies. In 1979, both countries were roughly at the same level of growth but since then China has grown in leaps and bounds. Thanks to its totalitarian system, China’s GDP is six times that of India. Besides, India has had a few false starts too. But I have a strong feeling that we will catch up pretty soon and that, the next 25 years will be India’s turn to shine.

CC: What is the philosophy of your life?

I would say that even though we don’t realise it, in retrospect, here’s what will stand out: Firstly, our sincerity of purpose, which is critical in all that we undertake. Secondly, our purity of heart that Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar emphasises on. Thirdly, our commitment. Very early on in life, some successful people told us that if you look at comfort only, you will never grow much as progress lies beyond comfort zones.

Rajita Bagga

Resilience is the keyword

"Rajita Kulkarni Bagga is a successful banker turned educator. She is the President, Sri Sri University and a dedicated Art of Living mentor. Besides, she is FICCI India National Higher Education Council; CII Co-Convener Eastern Region Education Council; Mentor of Change Atal Innovation Mission and Niti Ayog, Govt. of India. Her maiden book, ‘The Unknown Edge: A Mystical Journey of Self Discovery’ has received rave reviews"

CORPORATE CITIZEN: TELL US ABOUT YOUR CHILDHOOD…

Rajita Bagga: It was a very normal childhood growing up in Mumbai. My father worked for the Maharashtra State Electricity Board and my mother for the Reserve Bank of India, so I grew up as the child of a working household. Looking back, those were easier years as life was much simpler back then. Overall, my family was very large with over 45 aunts and uncles from just my father’s maternal side. Being among the younger cousins, I was conscious that all my elder cousins were high achievers, so I knew I belonged to a special family and grew up with the clear understanding that I had to make something good and big out of my life.

CC: Was it in your childhood itself that you knew what you wanted to do?

Umm…it’s a little presumptuous to say that I knew what I wanted to do at this stage. But I was the first child in my family to opt for a non-science education and take up commerce. Most of them had taken up science, so we had doctors, engineers and even lawyers. So, my decision to pursue commerce was a first. I quickly realised I was a very good communicator who loved to engage with others through writing and speech. Along with my B.Com, I did my ICWA and then my MBA. Given my background, ‘normal’ was not good enough. It had to be extraordinary. I was very lucky to get my summer working programme with Hindustan Lever. It is a global brand with a strong work culture. The learning was immense and thereafter, I started to work for Citibank.

CC: Tell us about your long-standing tenure at Citibank…

I got into Citibank through campus recruitment while I was pursuing my MBA. I spent fantastic 18 years at Citibank. It’s an incredible corporation and institution with some of the finest minds working there. It is committed to maintaining a standard of excellence. At the time I joined it was a pioneer in consumer banking. India was just opening up with plenty of financial reforms. Ajay happened to join two years before me. But when I joined, India was on the cusp of liberalisation. It was a vibrant time to be in banking. Whatever I know today, I learnt from Citibank be it grassroots orientation, the pursuit of excellence, disruption innovation, the seeds of wanting to know and do more. I also learnt of being sure of the possibility that if you apply yourself you can achieve whatever you have set your heart on sales targets, consumer relationships and the rest of it. I was a relationship manager, then a team leader handling high end clients who were bigwigs from all walks of society. My work was fun and it was really enjoyable to work with a team so high on energy.

Then we moved to Bengaluru. Citibank was the pioneer of remote banking in India. I used to interact with customers telephonically. It was a major disruption in banking as customers were not required to come to the bank to get their work done. Today, it’s a norm.

I was just about 27-28 years old with as many as 300 to 400 people working for me. It was very fulfilling and an enriching time. In fact, the last six to seven years were even more of a cherry on the cake because I was part of the regional team. I used to look after a few functions for the Asia-Pacific for the assets business, which was a departure from being on the liabilities’ side. Working with people from different cultures was an incredible experience. I am so grateful to Citi for creating the foundation for so many things in my life. Also, that’s where I met Ajay. In the initial years of our tenure, I was in Mumbai while he was in Chennai and then he moved in to take over as our branch manager. It was our flagship branch and we were all under the global spotlight.

"Whatever I know today, I learnt from Citibank be it grassroots orientation, the pursuit of excellence, disruption innovation, the seeds of wanting to know and do more"

CC: Please tell us about the shift from banking to education. When did you first meet Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar?

Inspiring Guru to both: Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar with
Ajay and Rajita Bagga

I first met Gurudev in 1992-1993 when a family friend invited me to come for a satsang in Mumbai. I was deeply touched by Gurudev’s presence and soon became involved in the Art of Living (AoL) courses and assorted projects alongside my banking career. I also qualified as an Art of Living teacher.

AoL runs as many as 700 free schools across India for as many as 80,000 students. I would work and teach in the evenings and on weekends. But after our nightmarish experience at the Taj Hotel on the night of the 26/11 terror attack, where both of us were stuck along with a friend and literally escaped death by a whisker, it was most natural to think about the value of the time I had. I was in a regional job heading 12 countries for customer advocacy and training. My life was pretty much lived in and out of suitcases. Somehow, I felt it was time to make a change the two of us discussed it through and decided one of us must commit our time and be available full-time to society and to the world.

In 2010, I left Citibank and became full-time involved in AoL Work. As of now, I am the President of Sri Sri University as well as ‘The World Forum for Ethics’ headquartered in Brussels. We conduct public awareness and advocacy programmes on ethics and good governance in sports and business. I am also a trustee on our educational trust. We run over 100 educational schools and colleges under its aegis. I am also a leadership trainer and use the consciousness based technique. For this, I have worked with the World Bank and many Fortune 100 companies helping them catalyse change processes. I also help individuals catalyse their own leadership journeys. Thus, I am deeply involved in the educational space. It is a great honour and a huge responsibility in constructing Gurudev’s University infrastructure as well as digitally.

CC: Do tell us more about the courses at Sri Sri University.

Gurudev’s vision is visible in the choice of courses we offer an eclectic and winsome blend of the finest knowledge of both the East and the West. We are the first varsity in Asia to have a College of Osteopathy, which offers a unique non-surgical mode of treatment. No one in India knew what it was; it took us about three years to get the pre-requisite permission; even now we are creating the demand for it. It is a new form of medicine in our part of the world but we are fully committed to it despite the expenses involved in getting our entire faculty from Europe and the USA.

However, it is equally important to give our knowledge to the world. To that end, we are the first university in the world to start a Department of Contemplative Behavioural Sciences. No college in the world, not even the Ivy Leagues, offer this programme. To drive all of this is very exciting and gratifying but the responsibility is immense. I now sit on all the main educational councils of all chambers of commerce. So yes, this is my life for now.

CC: What inspired you to write the book ‘The Unknown Edge’?

It’s been close to three decades on the spiritual path for me, closely in association with Gurudev. Life has brought so many mystical and miraculous experiences. Many tough moments and challenges shape you to be the person you become, besides time, which has a way of making us richer and wiser as we age. Gurudev encourages each of us to write. It is always good to look inwards and self-reflect whatever one’s preferred mode of expression, be it meditation or writing. As I started writing down my experiences, the canvas grew wider and richer. By virtue of Gurudev’s work, I have had the chance to travel worldwide and interact with people from different countries. That, as you know, brings in a kind of global perspective, which is reflected in one’s personality and thinking. As I wrote and began the process of editing, I received many requests to include my childhood days. So, in that sense, the work is a slice of my life.

There’s something in it for everyone. For the youth, I have talked about how coming from a family of such achievers has brought its own pressures that I have had to deal with. I have also touched upon what youngsters go through in the course of their studies and career paths. Considering how much pressure the system brings upon students, this reflection is something that will resonate with their age group. Besides this, I have also written from my own perspective as a woman, the challenges I faced as well as the discrimination that came at times. So, in that sense, it is relevant for women too.

"The implications for HR are huge. How on earth do you keep a team together when they never meet each other? How do you create a corporate culture? After all, it’s the tiny moments that sew together the cultural fabric of an institution"

Complementing each other: Rajita and
Ajay Bagga in traditional attires

CC: How has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted you?

The year 2020 has been an oxymoron; as much a year of extreme isolation as it has been one of connection. On the one hand, we had to isolate ourselves socially, on the other, we were connected digitally like never before. The possibilities this has opened up are immense. For instance, I have spoken at two conferences simultaneously something that would never have been possible in the physical world. However, staying homebound as well as the uncertainty has had a deep impact on the heart and minds of people across the globe. Hence, there is an urgent need to focus on mental health and pulling people out of depression.

There is a pressing need to build resilience techniques. Gurudev, from the very first day of lockdown, has been guiding meditation, twice a day. Millions of people are joining in online to do Pranayama. The seeds for self reflection have always been a part of our culture we just need to help them grow once again. Our grandparents, for instance, did it as a part of life. No one had to tell them to get up early and meditate, do sun salutations and focus on their breath. Now this entire wonderful legacy has been reinstated. In our university, all students join in for saadhana practise from 6 to 7:30 am on Zoom. I join in, so do other faculty members. The point is that we need to tap into our inner reservoir of strength; nothing external can manage to do that for us. Social connections help only up to a point, hence, the need for meditation. Over the last year, we have taught our Sudarshan Kriya to thrice the number of people that we usually do.

And then there is the importance of doing seva (service). A simple gesture to help each other creates an ecosystem of emotional stability. When it comes to the educational system, teachers have emerged as warriors, no less heroic than the police. They teach the whole day, prepare PPTs for the next day and just keep going on and on. This is such a vital service in keeping the children meaningfully engaged. How else could parents manage to work from home with young children?

CC: Do you think online learning is here to stay?

In the days to come, the world will continue to function both digitally as well as physically. Work from home is a practice that is here to stay. This will shape the industry and real estate infrastructure. The implications for HR are huge. How on earth do you keep a team together when they never meet each other? How do you create a corporate culture? After all, it’s the tiny moments that sew together the cultural fabric of an institution. So, it is a very transformative time. Every industry has to be catalysed. As an advocate of mental health, it is a challenging time. Soon, it will be time for the FICCI annual educational summit which will be attended by people from as many as 80 countries. For the first time ever, we will do a master class on mental health. So yes, the world is waking up to the importance of mental health like never before.

CC: What is the philosophy of life that you live by?

My philosophy of life in two words: Embrace life.

I do have this positive gene in me. I always look at the cup as being half full. Life brings you as much as you take from it; in many ways, I am a ‘yes’ person, I embrace the new opportunities and experiences that life brings me. Every moment is new and if you meet every challenge headlong, your life can become so much bigger and beautiful than what you imagined it to be; sometimes even beyond your capacity.

On the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, even as we joke that we are married to our computers, I never say no to interacting with new people, irrespective of their age and stage of life you never know what they need from you or what you can learn from them, for that matter. Thus, I believe there is something good in every situation. In short, I am quite the optimist. Pessimists, on the other hand, maybe more correct and realistic in their assessment, but in the end, the optimist is always happier.

Ajay Bagga & Rajita Bagga

Simple living; High thinking

Ajay Bagga was Rajita’s boss at Citibank and soon the professional relationship developed into a happy partnership of a lifetime…

JAB WE MET…

RAJITA BAGGA: When I met Ajay professionally, I thought to myself: what an exceptional person he is. The things he would do for our team and make us do in turn were just incredible. He was compassionate and brilliant at what he did and deeply involved in his work. I had great respect for his professional abilities. I realised just how much I was growing professionally working with him. He is also a voracious reader and an excellent conversationalist. As our boss, when we took him to meet clients, they would say admiringly that he was the most knowledgeable man who knew ‘everything about everything’. They would love to have conversations with him.

As for me, I was very happy to be with him and spend time with him. Slowly, I realised that it wasn’t just a good professional relationship and friendship, it went beyond that.

AJAY BAGGA: We were friends and colleagues, to begin with. When I took over as branch manager, I remember our very dear boss Harit Talwar telling me wryly: “there are many young women here and I don’t want you marrying any of them.” A jovial, affable gentleman and fine boss to work for, he was an important part of our formative years.

Ours started off as a wonderful friendship, which matured into a very deep relationship. We are completing 25 years of marriage soon. It has been a very harmonious & rewarding partnership… spiritually, she’s led the way for me. We complement each other a lot.

BLOSSOMING IN CHANGING TIMES

The time Rajita and I happened to be working together was also a time of great change. We were lucky to be part of it. Names like Harit Talwar, Jerry Rao and Ashok Dutt led the way. And as mentioned by Rajita, Citi was a leader in phone banking. In those days, RBI would not give private banks a chance. But Citibank phone banking launched way back in 1993. I still remember the surreal, full-page tongue in cheek ads: “Citibank launches a million branches in the sky.” So, every phone became a branch.

While Rajita and I both worked in phone banking we never interacted much till we began to work in the branch. I was extra strict with her and she would complain about the extra work. But a sense of justice and fair play compelled me to be that way. Besides, Citibank had a firm rule: if employees were in a relationship, they ought to declare it immediately and one of the couples had to move out. So, we told Mr Harit Talwar first. He helped take care of matters.

BOTH FAMILIES HAVE COMMON GROUND

Looking back, it was not common for people from such different backgrounds to marry each other. I am a Punjabi from Delhi while she’s from Maharashtra. We were a little concerned about our family’s reactions given the difference in our backgrounds. But soon enough, both families found common ground to interact and communicate. Love for knowledge, personal and professional integrity, education, spirituality and ethics being some of the values we cherished. Both families had high ranking professionals like her granduncle who started HAL, not to mention other relatives who were cabinet and chief secretaries of states and yet so humble. Simple living and high thinking have been a way of life for both families and that brought us closer.