“A Banker Down The Rabbit Hole” debutante author Dr. KC Arora shares interesting insights!

Prof (Dr.) KC Arora has worked with an international bank for 21 years including 3 years at Hong Kong branch. He also worked for 4 years as CFO of a company in Singapore. His industry exposure spans 25 years over three countries. He has an academic experience of 18 years, out of which he was a faculty at Staff College of the bank for 5 years and has been a Professor of Finance with BIMTECH for 13 years. He believes in lifelong learning and remarkably completed his Ph.D at the age of 60.

He has recently authored a book titled “A Banker down the Rabbit Hole” which talks about various nitty-gritties of a banker’s life and takes the reader through the various situations that arise in a bank.

Ten News spoke to Dr. KC Arora to know more about his debut book. Here are the excerpts of the interview:

Ten News: After such a long and illustrious career in banking industry as well as academia, from where did this thought came of authoring a book?

Dr. Arora : I have been staying in BIMTECH campus since 2005. We used to share our experiences and one fine day our Director asked me to pen it down in form of a book. He was impressed by various anecdotes being shared by me and said that it could be a great source of information for people. Hence with this motivation I started writing the book. He also helped me in finding the right publisher. With his support and encouragement, I am debutant author today.

Ten News : How did you zero on the title “A Banker Down the Rabbit Hole”?

Dr. Arora : Initially I planned to go with the title “My Life with the Banking” but when my son heard about it he suggested that I should have a more catchy headline. It was him who suggested me to name it “A Banker Down the Rabbit Hole”. Since after the launch I have received very positive feedback on the title hence I suppose the choice has been great.

Ten News: Is it a completely technical book or even a layman with interest in banking can read it?

Dr. Arora : Before joining banck I did my PG in Msc and happen to join a bank. Hence I learned banking as a beginner. So when I teach the students also I think from the perspective of a beginner. I have adopted the writing style of the book in such a manner that even a layman can understand it very easily. The language has been kept very simple and the whole thing has been drafted as to appeal to all sort of audience.

Ten News: What exactly could be the target audience for it?

Dr. Arora : This book is for everyone however if we get more specific the bankers and more particularly the bank managers in the first decade of their career will benefit the most to avoid pitfalls and traps. Secondly, the management professionals, management students and general readers will find the content engaging, full of rare management insights and replete with knowledge of banking.

Ten News : You have also started your PhD at the age of 55 and completed it at 60. So what inspired you to have this remarkable achievement at such an age?

Dr. Arora : I believe that if you keep ambitions alive you can achieve it at some time. Even during my student years I wanted to do PhD but couldn’t do it due to financial constraints. Now when I joined teaching there was no financial constraint and as I was also staying in the campus so I could save time in commuting as well. Hence I started my PhD with Aligarh Muslim University and completed it at the age of 60.

Ten News: There are 88 cases being talked of in this book. So how relevant are they in modern times?

Dr. Arora : I started this journey in 1977 in Bank and continued up to 2000 but all the regulations of banking remain same. Hence the episodes that I have mentioned stay relevant even today. These 88 episodes are like mini cases on banking aspects weaved in from of story so that it can be made interesting for general ready. There are episodes on perception management, people management, office dynamic, career planning as well as on how big learning can come from small happenings. Hence it covers most aspects of customer experience.

Ten News : How can interested readers purchase this book?

Dr. Arora : Interested readers can purchase this book online through amazon.com. It is also available on the bookstores of Shashi Publications.