Rodevra Republic

 *Sunday Story: My experience at the bank* My banking experience has been a happy one and there is one happy reason for it. The branch of the SVC Bank where our family has several accounts is one that is staffed entirely by women. It is what is called a “Women’s branch”, probably one of a kind. Only the security guards are men. It is on the ground floor of one of the buildings of the Saraswat Colony. If I am not mistaken, it is in the same building where the actor Amol Palekar once lived. The branch is so close to my place that our Wifi signal almost reaches it. The SVC Bank considers it as one of their prestigious branches and whenever there is a change in the top management, they first pay a ‘pilgrimage’ visit to the branch.  Not sure it is the reason, but the ladies in the branch are uniformly good looking. Makes me wonder whether they hire or transfer staff here based on their looks or their qualification. Having said that, the GSB community which essentially runs the Bank...

 *Late Sunday story*  What happens when you have to share a table with a stranger when you are out at a restaurant? It happened last week when my wife and I were at a restaurant, not a fancy one, but quite busy, where it is perfectly fine for patrons to share tables. So when we were guided to a table of four, we were asked to sit side by side, not opposite, as would normally happen. It was an indication that we were to expect someone to sit opposite and share the table with us. This was a simple restaurant, but known for its good food, so attracted people and was always busy. You can imagine that it would cramped too, with small table sizes, maximizing every available space.  Being primarily a sea food restaurant, one does not generally refer to the menu, but one discusses with the waiter on what fish is 'fresh'. So we discussed our options and placed our order. All this while, thankfully there was no one sitting opposite us and while we were talking of general things, in...