How former RBI governor Dr D Subbarao kept his humour quotient alive!

Being an RBI governor is no laughing matter, but former governor Dr D Subbarao revealed recently he that always managed to keep his humour, despite the high pressure job. Recalling his five-year tenure at an event, Subbarao said that just as he took up the post, the 2008 global economic crisis unfolded, leading many to believe it was a bad omen. “I took office on September 5, 2008. September 7, the Fannie and Freddie were taken over, followed by the collapse of Merrill Lynch, AIG and then Lehman Brothers, all snowballing into the financial crisis. India was affected too,” he said.

“Everywhere I went, people would ask, ‘When will the crisis be over?’ As if I knew the answer. So, I would say, ‘If I brought on the crisis, it will end when my term is over.’ And the week after I left the RBI, the crisis ended. The economy got back on track, the rupee stabilised and inflation was on a downward trend. If there was one prophecy I wish I had been wrong, it was that,” he said as the audience laughed. Guess Subbarao’s story struck a chord with his successor and now ex-governor, Raghuram Rajan, who was also present in the audience.