Sure, the top job at the Reserve Bank of India could get onerous, but not for Governor Duvvuri Subbarao – he took it all with élan and a dash of humour. His fetish for the correct ‘stance’, be it through his well-structured presentations or maintaining physical fitness to be able to participate in the annual Mumbai marathon anchored by Standard Chartered, did not deter Subba (as he was fondly known in journalistic circles) from dishing out his brand of humour, lightening up the atmosphere at long, boring conferences. As the Governor gets ready to hang up his boots after an action-packed innings at the apex bank, we bring our readers some of these memorable “lighten the atmosphere” moments.

Abolish CRR? SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri’s view that the cash reserve ratio is a drag on the system as the money that banks park with the RBI earns no interest saw tension rising between him and Deputy Governor K.C. Chakrabarty, who suggested that banks must do business within the existing framework or look for some other place to do business.

Subbarao, at an event, during the verbal spat between the two top bankers, said, “The RBI has constituted a two-member committee comprising K.C. Chakrabarty and Pratip Chaudhuri to look into the relevance of the cash reserve ratio.”

He went on to add – with a straight face. Both K.C. and Pratip would be locked in a room till they found a solution to the problem; and the two cannot come to a conclusion till his own term as the Governor is over.

And then the audience broke into laughter.

But, even before the Governor had put down his two ‘conditions’ — a few trigger happy TV and wire journalists had flashed, “RBI constitutes a committee to look into the relevance of CRR.”

But seeing the audience react, the journalists — confused — immediately called their desks to withdraw the flashes.

At the end of the event, a reporter walked upto Subba and asked him, “Was this is a joke?” Subba shot back with a straight face: “What do you think?”

Mayan apocalypse: At a customary post policy press conference in January, all the journalists took their seats and waited for the Governor to begin his speech. At 3 pm sharp, the Governor arrived and announced, “I thought that the Mayan apocalypse would come true on December 21, 2012, and the RBI would disappear with a history of low growth and high inflation. However, that did not come to pass. Therefore, we will continue in the relentless pursuit of low inflation and high growth.” Journalists did not miss the Governor’s nerve for humour this time.

Guidance on guidance: It is customary for the RBI to put out guidance in each of the policy statements. However, inquisitive that the tribe of journalists is, we poked him further on the guidance. He smiled and replied: “It has become regular for the RBI now to give guidance on guidance.” The rest is history.

Hair cut: On the inflation dilemma, Subba once said in jest, “When I was young and had a mop of hair on my head, a haircut cost me Rs 25. Today, I am old and with very little hair on my head, but a haircut costs Rs 150. I wonder how much is the actual cost and how much is the premium that the barber charges to cut the Governor’s non-existent hair.”

Mother would have believed it: At an event organised by the Indian Merchants Chambers, where Subba was one of the invitees, praises were heaped by one and all on the Governor. When it was Subbarao’s turn to speak, he said, “I am deeply touched by whatever has been said about me. Whenever someone says such nice things about me…I am reminded of my parents.”

“My parents have passed away. Had they been alive…my father would have been very proud to hear such good things about me and my mother would have actually believed it,” he added with a smile.

satyanarayan.iyer@thehindu.co.in

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