The Mandarin

How does one achieve Nirvana? Some have the desire to do so right from the word Go! Some strive hard to do so by way of prayer and Meditation. Some do what they do best and reach the pinnacle of success - Yet stay Humble and self-effacing. Mr Narsimham clearly belongs to the Last category. He has in this diverse and multi hued country adopted finance as his religion and turned the country's economy around when India was reeling with little in its coffers in the early 90's.

M Narasimham was the first  Governor to be appointed from the Reserve Bank cadre, having joined the Bank as a Research Officer in the Economic Department. He later joined the Government and prior to his appointment as Governor he served as Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs.

He had a short tenure of seven months. He later served as Executive Director for India at the World Bank and thereafter at the IMF after which he served in the Ministry of Finance as Secretary. He was chairperson of the Committee on the Financial System, 1991 and the Committee of Banking Sector Reforms, 1998.

Our instructors at ASCI tell us that he was instrumental in gettting a loan from the World Bank which helped the country rise from the ashes to what it is today. His single most important contribution to this country which is the reason that  this country is what it is today. 

We were fortunate to be part of the audience to listen to this distinguished speaker. His command over the knowledge of transition of from Licence Raj to a liberal country was indeed fantastic to listen to. Even at this age his razor sharp memory of the happenings in the country gave us a clear and concise picture of the economy of the country. What was surprising was his understanding the level of the capability of the audience and how he made the things clear for us. Thank you Mr Narasimham for your wonderful lecture-we will be ever indebted to you.

The rest of the day was taken up byFinance. About the decision Makers and their info needs. Financial accounting and management accounting - as to how to paint a rosy picture about the company's finances. Finances and their characteristics , Types of business and the score cards of finances , different types of assets and liabilities and to top it all a practical method of preparing a balance sheet and how to interpret it. To top it all was an assimilaion test to reassure ourselves that we were indeed assimilating something which was being taught... In the end we were quite exhausted by this battering through the day. The lecture was fruitful and instructive