The Blue-Eyed Girl

It was love at first sight. I came in her contact within a few days of starting my journey in New India Training College in September 1988 at 34 CD Barfiwala Marg (Juhu Gali) Mumbai. It was a beautiful environment full of ambitious youngsters not having much idea about General Insurance except the fact that they have been selected as Asst. Administrative Officer in the General Insurance Industry in India. She was an adorable girl with a depth of knowledge, sophisticated, and graceful. It was a beautiful combination of knowledge and beauty.

Always dressed elegantly in blue colour. Being a fresher I couldn't fathom her level of knowledge in the beginning. She was very humble and always ready to explain in simple words. Slowly started following her depth of knowledge and started falling in love with her. Didn't pick up much during the 6 months of paid holidays ( training) but once posted to Bharuch a place in South Gujarat whose coordinates were beyond my geographical knowledge, my attachment to her became stronger and strengthened my insurance knowledge level to counter the loneliness. She was available anytime you want her help. Keeping herself updated, and making it simple and clear were her qualities. With the passage of time started understanding her more and more and became more inquisitive. Slowly I was coming to the conclusion that the insurance subject is simple and has clarity but it is the so-called experts who make it the story of An Elephant and Four Blindmen.

My marriage didn't deter me from continuing to love her. It has become a professional love. My wife and she became good friends and never encroached into each other's place. She became an integral part in my professional career and contributed immensely to my career growth. Still, I used to accept that she is a treasure box of knowledge full of depth and diversity and understanding her completely is a long journey. The best part was that she used to carry herself and never allowed anybody to take her for granted. She had the answer for a simple insurance requirement of a residential building or that of a complicated petrochemical plant with clarity. She had in-depth knowledge of each type of risk and used it to differentiate between a good risk and bad risk. Impartial and no room for allowing any misinterpretation. Even my seniors used to respect her and abide by her instructions.

Meanwhile, I was transferred to Rajpipla a beautiful place but with little interior. So my dependency on her became more and She became my main source of support. Never let me down. With her help, I could put my branch on a growth trajectory. In October 2000, I moved to Vadodara and got the opportunity to handle big corporate clients and as usual, she was helping a lot. Meanwhile, the Indian insurance market was expecting changes in the line of Malhotra Committee's report. Everybody was a little sceptical about the future of the industry. Like others, She was also trying to envisage the changes and to realign her knowledge base. The in-depth study of risk was replaced by a simple analysis of risk confined to a compound. Change is the essence of life. I was re-tuning my knowledge base to adjust to the new environment. Met her in April 2001, after a long time. I could not recognise her. She has shredded her weight and become very slim and trim. Looking young and ready to navigate the insurance market in a new direction. Guiding me to accept the changes gracefully and move ahead with only one aim to stabilize the market and provide clients with the right coverage and best of services.

With the opening up of the insurance market and the entries of many private insurance companies, the monopolistic public sector players were feeling the heat of competition and they were trying to realign their strategies. The price war was picking up and ratings and discounts were overshadowing the risk exposures. For the first time, I found her a little disturbed and expressed her dissatisfaction over equating all types of risk. She was not against any discount but expected that it should be justified. But the volatile insurance market was looking for opportunities to grab business ignoring her advice. She was helpless and withdrew herself from the price war and confined her expertise to the wording and coverage. She was expecting that soon her requirement would not be there. She wanted to retire gracefully as the insurance market wanted to free her from her clutches. They wanted freedom from her.

I was finding it a little difficult to part away from her. The relationship was strengthened over 35 years of togetherness. As usual, she was too graceful in accepting the changes. As expected she was bid farewell on 21st March 2024 with a promise that her services may be required. It was an emotional moment for me, preparing myself for the professional transition period. I will be missing her but the foundation she has helped me to lay will be helping me to adapt to the changes. I took out the beautiful memory of her which I have kept with me since April 2001, the compact and concised fire tariff which has always stood by me at the time of need. I bow my head with respect to the beautiful blue-eyed girl "The All India Fire Tariff ".