SPEECH OF NARENDRA KUMAR, CHAIRMAN, HAR-ANAND PUBLICATIONS PVT. LTD.
Distinguished
guests, I am honored to welcome you this evening at the launch of Mr Dharam Vir
Taneja’s book entitled, A Chronology of
Men, Matters and Events. Today is
also the author’s 90th birthday. Please join me in wishing him many
happy returns of the day, as well as a long and healthy life for many more
similar books.
I
understand from my discussions with his daughter Ramni Taneja that her father
is extremely meticulous and although the manuscript was ready last year itself,
he wanted to ensure absolute accuracy of facts and events. I am astonished at
the author’s memory and his attention to details.
Born
on this day in1924, in Quetta, Baluchistan, and having lived in India, United
Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, the
author, has had an illustrious career as a banker in different parts of the
world. The book chronicles seven decades of history, banking and economics,
both in India and overseas, from the perspective of a national and
international banker, who is also, incidentally, a poet. It is a fascinating narrative, peppered with
true anecdotes and reminiscences of the author and his role in Indian and
international banking, and the various eminent personalities he met and
interacted with during the course of his professional life.
The
book describes the author’s thoughts as he experienced and witnessed the
painful and tragic partition of India in 1947. It further chronicles the life
of the author, who rose from the rank of a junior clerk to the highest position
as Chairman and Managing Director of a nationalized bank, and who subsequently
achieved recognition overseas as well, by heading an international bank in the
Middle East.
When
I met the author recently, my impression of him was that of a soft-spoke person,
who speaks very little, yet has the wisdom, grace and dignity of a sage. He
also gave me his book of poems, Reflections
in a Mirror, published in India in 1963 and also recently reprinted in the
USA.
I
am sure, ladies and gentlemen you will enjoy reading the book as much as we
enjoyed publishing it.
NARENDRA
KUMAR
Chairman
HAR-ANAND
PUBLICATIONS PVT LTD
P.S.
Now I invite the author’s daughters, Rashmi and Ramni, to say a few words.
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