Traversing through the Generational Gap

So this happened last week!

It was 9:00 in the morning and I was already running late for my campus recruitment interviews.  I sat at the dining table across my father and started frantically stuffing my mouth with sandwiches my mother had made for me. My dad looked up from his newspaper and said, “Beta, I know you’re in a hurry but don’t forget to go to the bank and get your account opened. This is the last time I remind you!”

To which I said that I had a lot to do today and wouldn’t get time to open an account. I rushed towards the door to avoid yet another lecture on time management and my daddy dearest sensed it.

“Nalayak (Idiot), you always have one or the other excuse up your sleeves, don’t you? Deciding on a bank you want to create your account in is a very important decision and that takes a lot of time.

After you’re done deciding on a bank, creating an account with a bank is altogether a different ball game! It’s a massive task. With all the documentation, the long queues, the biometrics… It’s a never-ending process. “, my dad said.

“Wow, I didn’t know it took that long to create an account. It seems so daunting…” I said.

“You know when I was young I was very particular about all these things. You’re an adult now; I expect the same from you. So when are you planning to create a bank account?” he asked.

“Well dad, I just did. I created a bank account with Kotak 811. Turns out, it’s not as hard as it seems.” I said with a smirk.

With a look of stark disbelief swept over his face he said, “I don’t believe you! All you were doing was just standing there and fidgeting with your mobile phone…”

I sat down next to him, showed him my phone and said, “Dad, this is the Kotak 811 app. It lets you create an account in just 5 minutes! No more waiting in queues and no more tedious documentation.  All you need is your Aadhar card. It’s that simple.”

“What are the returns on your savings and the minimum account balance to be maintained? Did you find that out before creating a bank account with Kotak?” My dad inquired.

“Dad I’m your son, of course, I did! They offer 6% p.a. on a zero balance account contrary to your bank offering only 4%p.a. and high charges on non-maintenance of account balance. I think you should reconsider your bank dad…” I said with a smile.

He smiled and gave me his blessings for my placement interviews.

You know, my father and I are very different. The generational gap is one of the big reasons for that. The only thing common is the way we bank. We both bank with Kotak 811 now. Looks like Kotak 811 traversed the generational gap after all.