The book takes in the many dimensions of the legendary banker’s life and notes in particular the equal place he accorded to women, and his support to educational institutions and to the cause of paintings from Sikh history
This handsomely got up coffee-table book on the life of one of modern India’s most illustrious bankers, Sardar Dr. Inderjit Singh, takes note of some of the foundational aspects of banking as an industry, but it will be remembered above all for the transformation of this vital industry into a remembrance of service, or sewa, which can be said to be the credo of the Sikh faith.
The protagonist helmed the Punjab & Sind Bank for more than two decades until this remarkable institution was nationalised, and then proceeded to lay the foundation of the Punjab Bank at an advanced age.
Born in the small town of Musakhel in the Punjabi-Pushtoon border region of British India, the banker showed his precociousness from early on. His quickness of mind at study was complimented by a sharp spiritual bent and the tendency to work hard.
These were observed and remarked upon by his peers and seniors — and by the thousands of people that Sardar Inderjit Singh was able to help at various stages of their lives. The banker’s natural orientation toward understanding the needs of his poorest depositors, and his own simple living, mark him out as among the outstanding Sikhs of modern India.
This coffee table book, which rests on recollections, is a tribute to the many aspects of this most unusual personality who has also been looked upon as the ‘banker saint’.
Written by his youngest son, Sardar Tejbir Singh, himself an eminent banker upon whom has been conferred the “Order of the Khalsa’ for his attainments, this volume is a son’s homage at one level, at another it takes the reader into realms to which his father truly belonged.
The protagonist developed into an astute banker during his years at the Central Bank of India and the United Commercial Bank, and made deep innovations into the work practices of banking as he went along. Later, in his role as the chairman of the Punjab & Sind Bank, Dr Inderjit Singh took the bank to the people, especially in Punjab, anticipating the needs of agricultural communities. Some of the aspects of his thinking and the practices he established in his bank would later inform wider policy prescriptions.
The book takes in the many dimensions of the legendary banker’s life and notes in particular the equal place he accorded to women, and his support to educational institutions and to the cause of paintings from Sikh history.
Dr Inderjit Singh
By Tejbir Singh
Outlook Publishing (India) Pvt Ltd
pp. 140
