“My First S/B Account Was Opened By My Grandfather In 1975.”

^{The HQs of J&K Bank Srinagar, kashmir}

I Was In Eighth Standard-When My Savings Account Was Opened: –

I was studying in the eighth standard in Jammu and was hardly 14 years of age in the year 1975, when my grandfather took me to the nearest branch of Jammu & Kashmir Bank at Link Road Jammu and opened my first savings bank account. My grandfather was himself serving in the same Jammu & Kashmir Bank-City Chowk branch, which used to be the main branch of the bank in Jammu and Kashmir, as the head cashier. He used to stress on one point: the spending of money should be strongly regulated through the proper savings account, and one must not keep the money here and there in the cash form, which invariably was spent at times on not-so-important things. The unnecessary spending could be avoided if one maintained a proper bank account-no matter whether he was a student or not.

He took me to the Link Road Branch office and met the manager there, who knew him very well and regarded him very highly. The moment he was told that I had to open my savings bank account in that branch-the concerned manager, without any further saying, got some forms filled out and the necessary signatures from my grandfather’s side, and even my signatures were also taken. It hardly took a few minutes for my account to be opened. In those days, there never used to be any computers or even internet facilities. The account was manually opened, and I was given a passbook properly filled in by the clerk concerned, but no checkbook. The manager told my grandfather that since I had just opened the account with them, the checkbook would be delivered to the postal address or we could collect it ourselves, but after a certain amount was put into the account, the transactions started. I remember my grandfather having put in Rs. 101 as the opening amount into my savings account.

 The Same Account Is Still Active After 46 Years:

The beauty is that the same account is still continuing even after almost 46 years, and there have been many changes occurring with the concerned branch. The same branch was first situated on the first floor of a saree shop on the side of the Upper-Link Road, and after a few years it was shifted to the “Purani-Mandi” main crossing, but the name on the branch remained Link Road only. Then, after even a few more years, say, around fifteen years or so, the branch was shifted to the busy crossing of Sabzi-Mandi and Parade Ground Matador-stop. Here the name was changed to Near Sabzi Mandi, or even the older people were referring to the same branch as the old link road-branch, Jammu. In earlier times—I mean, in ‘75—the total number of digits for the account was hardly four digits, and we used to remember the same very easily. After so many years, there has been a total change in the functioning as well as the nature of accounts, which have been strictly made as per the internet requirements, and even the four-digits have been changed to sixteen digits or around.

This Account Came To My Great Help During My Marriage In 1989:

The main thing that made me jot down a small write-up on this opening of the account was the biggest help it rendered during the year 1989, when I got married and the whole function was done in Jammu. Although I had been living in Ludhiana-Punjab till that time and was maintaining my accounts at the place of my work, I had been putting some amount into this account, always thinking that otherwise the account would get closed if there was no transaction done in between and it wasn’t kept active. I remember I had a good amount as the balance after the time of my marriage in 89 here in this old account. At the final moment, when my marriage had to take place in October, I had not transferred the larger amount into the Jammu account. The reason for that was simple: timely transfers took place earlier than that, and that had accumulated to a substantial amount, which was sufficient for all the functions to be solemnized. 

I Could Purchase A Piece Of Land In Jammu Because Of This Account:

After all the functions were completed, I still had some money left, and that helped me go in for a deal after the marriage for the purchase of the land in Jammu at that time. Which proved to be very helpful in the later transactions for the estate purchases in Delhi as well.

Looking at the importance of such an account at my hometown because of its usage at odd hours or even at the point in time when some heavier transactions were to be made, saving the account had become very important as well as very close to me. Always, I tried to put in some small amount whenever possible into this, with the feeling that this would accumulate to a bigger amount one day and prove to be even more useful for some important functions.

Having your own state account is as good as having your state subject certificate. –

Although I have not been going as frequently to Jammu as I used to go earlier, I have been controlling this account online and giving much more preference to this J&K Bank account compared to my other accounts in Delhi. I have a strong feeling that just as one must have the state subject certificate of his hometown as well as the property in his home town, he should also have the bank account in his hometown, preferably in the Jammu & Kashmir Bank, which would always provide ready financial assistance at times of need whenever he was in his hometown and needed the money.

My University Colleague Working In The Bank Was Very helpful.

Recently, I went to my J&K Bank branch in Jammu personally, and luckily, I met my university classmate who was doing an M.Sc. with me in Chemistry. She was there as the manager of the branch. I had some certificates, and the account updating was to be done. I simply told her about the same, and she did the rest of the job very quickly without me even waiting for any more time. This was possible because I had spent my whole student’s life there, and the acquaintances that developed because of that naturally came forward to my help. Had I not been in touch with the account as well as with my hometown, my interest in maintaining such connections and even maintaining friendly bonds would not have been possible. Today, because of this, I could become a member of my university group of friends on WhatsApp and be in constant touch with their developments as well as the development of my hometown. 

This Account Has Always Been Active Despite My Being In Delhi For The Last 31 Years So far: 

I have now been in Delhi since October 1990, when I was transferred from Ludhiana. It has been exactly 31 years, but the beauty is that my original first bank account has always been active, and to keep it active, I had to go on doing some timely transactions from Delhi itself. I went to the Jammu and Kashmir Bank Branch here in Malviya Nagar, Delhi, and got my debit card and all the necessary formalities completed for my Jammu account here itself in Delhi.

In the recent past, on two major occasions, this account has really helped me very much. It was in the beginning of 2019 when I was with the whole of my family at Kheer Bhawani-Srinagar on the occasion of my son’s Yagneopavit Ceremony. This being the state bank, it was very helpful for all the transactions to be easy and smooth. The second was the recent purchase of my second house in Gurugram, where I could transfer certain amounts very safely, that too immediately after my retirement, and it helped me immensely as an additional transaction point other than my main banks in Delhi.

My Special Affinity With This Account, Which Is Inexplicable:

No doubt a very special attachment with this account has made me more inclined towards it since many a time I put in the spare amount if at all it was possible that way. On occasions when I am in Jammu with my family, this account really helps me a lot since it is handy for me in case of certain unplanned expenditures while out of Delhi.

Even today, I still give more weight to this account and prefer that all transactions be done online. The only thing is the special app that I have installed for this bank in addition to my other bank apps, which gives me a special sense of attachment. It may be that the name of my birthplace comes out very clearly. I do know for sure that all the banks are almost the same in their functioning, and I don’t have any special advantage of this account, but my fascination with this bank account, which I myself cannot explain,.

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