One of the big lessons I have learnt from my life is that things are never as difficult as they seem. When you actively plunge into it, you realize you can easily do it.

After some time, my reputation preceded me each time I was given a new posting.

My friends have helped my daughter in certain areas more than I have. What these have taught me is that you need to be good to people. There will always be times when you need their help.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned the narrative around on demonetisation very quickly by promoting the move as one way of ending systemic corruption in the country.

Had it not been for the groundswell of support by the people of India, we would not have seen such a huge exercise of demonetisation bounce off without a single riot or a single law and order issue.

Women being women, they are very sincere, committed, and honest in what they do. If they feel they are shortchanging some segment of their responsibility, they have a tendency of holding themselves back. What I would like to tell them is that it is not necessarily true that you will short-change one or the other.

Most of the time, women believe that what lies ahead is a precipice. Whereas, if you continue to drive and stay on the path, the road will open up in front of you, and you will reach your destination. You don't need to turn around and abandon the journey.

Some people look at my photos and think maybe I'm feeling frazzled, but I really want to tell them I'm just having a bad hair day!

If you are approachable, if you keep your line of communication open, then very often, you get to hear what you need to hear.

If you snap off people's heads and get on to a kind of a pedestal, it's more difficult for people to approach you. It's much easier if you are down there with them. They will talk to you.

At the end of the day, none of us are the Oracle of Delphi, so we don't get everything right. It's always good to be able to listen and to take on what seems to be the right thing to do.

One thing I would tell women is that they must take up the challenge. Very often, we anticipate a lot of problems, and therefore, we don't take the lead. And I think that we are shortchanging ourselves if we don't do that.

When there are good postings available, the people who choose who is to come to that particular position, they will always have, at the back of their minds, a fear that, 'If I take a woman, she might prioritize her family over the job and, therefore, not be available at times when her presence is required.'

I do believe in teamwork, and I think it's very important, especially for a woman, because if you don't have a good team, then you cannot step out if you need to.

If you are really challenged, and if you are willing to take the plunge, very often some of the path opens up in front of you.

In India, women are still the primary caregivers. Whether it be for children, whether it be for old people or sick people, you are the primary caregiver. No matter what position you are in.

Disinvestments will continue to happen. If the issue is priced correctly, there's no reason why it should not sell.

In India, the investment banking industry is a little different. Overseas, the structures are very complicated, but not in India.

Competition is always there.

SBI Caps has a distinct advantage because most of our people are market recruits. We have a public sector heritage. Our challenge is to bring the best of both - public sector heritage and private sector talent - and provide a unique offering.

If you have six corporate centres, six treasuries, six of everything, and then if you bring it down to one of everything, obviously there are some savings.

I always focus on team building - both in office and at home.

At State Bank, all decisions are collective decisions. I have created the comfort zone.

If we want to be the banker to every Indian as we want to be, then we will have to use technology.

We underestimate our people. Given a challenge, most of our people will do it, especially the youngsters who take to technology like duck to water.

Senior officials are always looking for good juniors, so when the opportunity comes, they give you the responsibilities.

It was my first day at work - and beginning my training on the job, I was given the job of writing cheques and entering their details. The branch was surrounded by hordes of people... soon, they had to close the gates to manage the crowds, and they started pushing in.

I am not going to opt for a short-term view for a 206-year-old institution like the SBI.

We have been partners in nation-building and take our role in building the nation very proudly.

We are present in all areas, and our products are the best.

We keep saying, 'No more 'band aid' solutions.'

I am happy to be running a public sector bank. In times of stress, most people will always have an account with us, so, to the extent that it gives stability and faith for the people and because banking is a business of trust, it is a major advantage we have.

To tell you the truth, if you're looking at rising pretty high, then you need to find a way of taking care of these problems and not taking time off. At the end of the day, it is a very tough competition. And in a very tough competition, if you just take breaks, then it's going to become much, much more difficult.

If you go to any boardroom... the women are, by far, outnumbered by the men.

When it comes down to business, everybody is very businesslike... I have never felt any difficulty in dealing with any of these situations.

Until you get your reputation made, you have to work twice as hard... there is always a doubt in your superior's mind as to whether you will put family before your job.

Demonetisation is a disinflationary process. So, this will bring down prices in the long run. It will also help in bringing down interest rates.

Waiving debts corrupts the credit culture.

When borrowers anticipate that politicians might cancel their loans, they stop paying.

Because SBI is so large, serving customers in India's big cities and small rural villages alike, it has a pressing need for better tools and technology to monitor lending risks.

Cash imposes a huge burden. We don't understand it, as it is not immediately visible. It is a huge burden on society.

Why should a country have to take on itself a huge burden of managing a totally cash economy?

People are used to cash, and getting them out of that is going to be a long and tough exercise.

You have to go to war with a sword and a shield. You cannot go to war with bare hands.

One of my main agenda right from the beginning has been cost rationalization, and we have done a lot of cost rationalization.

ATM is still a cash channel; we want to migrate it to the digital channel.

You cannot take bank interest rates very sharply down: you will lose your deposit franchise.

A maturing process, and growth, is always painful. You ask any teenager, they will tell you, and it's just like that for the country. We need to grow; we need to evolve.

If you start from the farm sector, we need much better investments and capital creation on land. We need logistics support; we need cold chain and processing capability. We need proper pricing at various stages to ensure that the producers are not left out in the value-chain.

If you are satisfied, you will never see any more progress. One remains dissatisfied, but that doesn't mean that things are not happening.