1985 batch SBT POs in Ernakulam

 SBT 1985 POs 
 'unfurl' their nostalgia in Jan 2026

It was 1987 when the 1985 batch of POs (Probationary Officers) met together for their last training, prior to permanent posting. After years of struggle to organise a meet with little success, finally a get together of the SBT 1985 batch POs happened in Taj Vivanta,  Marine Drive Ernakulam on 20th January 2026. The entire credit for this goes to my friend Sreeprakash, who coordinated the entire event end to end. 

Sitting (L to R):Shri/Smt. - TTM Tharakan, Sreeprakash, Hari Govind Menon, Sujatha, Geeta, S.K. Ray, Viswanathan, Ashok Menon 

Standing (L to R): Shri- Harishankar, Ashok Kumar, Sivadas, Kishore Babu, Adwait Hebbar, Vinayak Prabhu, Sashidaran, Sudhish, Sasikumar, Girishkumar, Parthsarthy, Thomas Mathew 

Some interesting titbits or minutes of the get-to-gether, whatever way you choose to call:

* 20 out of the original batch number of 42/43/44 (no consensus reached😊as usual) attended, with 10 of them gracing the occasion with his/her spouse.

* The event started with an offer of 'silent prayer' to four of our batch mates, who left for their heavenly abode in the last four decades (Namely Late Shri - Nagarajan, Hemant, Latha and Raji Menon)

* Five of the 20, namely Vinayak Prabhu (3) Adwait Hebbar (9), Girish Kumar (9) Parthsarathy (16), Sasikumar (21 years) added colours to the meet, as they still retain their friendship and made it all the way from far off places. (number of years served by them in SBT is given in the bracket)

* Susant Kumar Ray (SK Ray) took the train from Noida, Delhi to attend the meet and also intend visiting Kanyakumari, before boarding the train again for his return journey from Thiruvananthapuram. Commendable and so lovable indeed are his efforts to meet us.

* Of the speakers, 

Adwait was the opening bat and made a head start with his humorous talk. Girish was more than 'transparent' in narrating his 'enjoyable' moments in SBT. Parthasarathy was at his eloquent best in detailing his innings with SBT. Harishankar concluded his speech with his lyrics on Mahatma Gandhi. His experience with a borrower, who did not want to be a debtor, had a classic touch and will be remembered by all for long. My friend for more than 45 years, Ashok Kumar, opening up his heart, made everyone emotional, (me in particular) with his speech. Sasikumar made everyone think, with an appeal to keep the love and affection spread across all the time, notwithstanding the north/south pole stand, when it comes to politics. Sujatha explained how she and Geeta attained GM position after retirement😊

* Sreeprakash and Girish impressed everyone with a few popular classic hindi songs of the 1980s. It was a pleasant surprise that they still retain their sweet voice, much the same way, as we enjoyed them in 1985. 

* Sreeprakash was professional in starting the meeting on time, ensuring that the decorated and sumptuous dinner, along with a few orders on 'bar', was served sharp at  8 PM, arranging group photograph session, with photos that will be remembered by everyone of us for the rest of our life.

* Hari Govind Menon described hilariously his participation in "Koun banega crorepati", how he lost Rs.12.5 lacs won by him and ended up with a price amount of Rs.5 lacs

* As we ran out of time, we missed the fiery speech expected from TTMT, not had the opportunity to listen to well known orators like Thomas Mathew, Ashok Menon and some lovely songs from Hari Govind Menon.

While travelling from Coimbatore to Ernakulam, I came across a lot of branches of ex-SBT, now carried on with the same emblem, but the name changed to SBI. From a bank, which had its roots in Kerala and branches spread across India, SBT had subsumed into SBI, which had its roots in the three Indian Colonies of the British and incidentally the largest bank for its business and number of branches. The feelings I had, when I saw the 'now' SBI branches was mixed. (cry and laugh at the same time).

I blogged the event for the benefit of my batchmates, who missed the event and also to the other SBTians.

Regards

V.Viswanathan
SBT 1985 batch PO

23rd January 2026

The names of batchmates, who attended the meet is furnished in the first photo. 

Spouses of batchmates, who graced the occasion, are in the front row. 

From left - Smt. - Jayasree Sasidharan,  Sylaja Ashok Kumar,  Usha Viswanathan, Sudha Hari Govind, Latha Sashikumar , Suja Sree Prakash, Sunita  Ashok Menon, Madhumathy Gireesh , Latha Tharakan, (Geeta - our batch mate) and Chandini Kishore. Shri Gopalan Nair husband of our batchmate Smt. Geeta is standing along with us (10th from the right and just before Vinayak Prabhu)