On the inaugural day of the global banking conference, the compere requested the guests to switch off their mobile phones and the audience obliged. Finance minister Yashwant Sinha was heard with rapt attention. On the second day, RBI governor Bimal Jalan and others and subsequently State Bank chairman MS Verma on the last day were not so fortunate. There was no request to switch off the mobiles and hence jingle bell... jingle bell... jingle all the day. The speakers obviously did not like it. Even the audience got disturbed but for a different reason. Some of the sleepy bankers couldn't enjoy their siesta after a sumptuous lunch as the mobiles kept on ringing!

Last supper?

Talking about lunch. It did not go down well with a few bankers on the second day after RBI governor Bimal Jalan announced tightening of prudential norms over the next few months. One public sector bank chairman was heard telling his general manager he did not feel like eating at all. The way a few bankerswere holding their plates it looked as if it was the last supper.

Pull up socks, IBA

Public sector banks are not well-known for their customers' service. Even IBA, which has most of the private sector banks as its members, faltered on catering to the genuine needs of the press when the conference was on. The written speeches were always on short supply as the organisers were busy photocopying the pages of speeches. One lady was seen zealously guarding heaps of speeches while wire and agency journalists were fighting against the time.

Golden voice

The politicians who are madly in love with microphone can take a lesson or two from senior bankers. At least one chairman of a south-based bank grabbed the microphone and continued for about half an hour deliberating on issues and passing on comments on all eminent speakers who had spoken over the last two days while his job was to utter two lines thanking two speakers of that particular session. Now we know why all bankers are not good at bookkeeping. They spend their time talking and talking.

I don't know

Indian Bank chairman S Rajagopal was in the limelight on all three days of the conference for a different reason though. Anybody and everybody who attended the seminar kept on asking him when he is shifting to Mumbai to take charge of Bank of India. Rajagopal, predictably, kept his mouth shut and smiled claiming he does not know what others are talking about. He was heard talking only when some journalists tried to drag in one southern lady -- a political heavyweight -- into the picture. "Believe it or not, I have nothing to do with her," Rajagopal was heard saying. We believe you Mr Chairman. Did someone say Jayalalitha's photograph no longer graces the Indian Bank chairman's office?

Vermaspeak

Limelight never leaves MS Verma, the chief of the country's largest commercial bank. On Thursday, he tackled the press with his characteristic elan. Television cameras followed him in every nook and cranny of the hall whileprint media persons were seen furiously jotting down what ever Verma was saying. It is, of course, another matter that he was saying nothing new. But the journalists realised that much later. By that time, Verma reached the PMO for an official engagement.

Quiet CEO

For MN Dandekar, the IBA secretary, this is yet another successful banking conference. The quiet, unassuming former SBI chief financial officers kept himself away from the media glare with utmost care. The only occasion he came on the forefront when it was the turn of the floor to throw questions to the distinguished speakers on the dais. "This is a forum to clarify doubts on important issues and I am doing that only," says Dandekar. A point well taken.