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Remembrances of old flames and loves

Remembrances of old flames and loves ! Dinesh K Kapila The trigger for this piece is a simple message posted by me. There was nothing remotely romantic about it. I was trying to know about an institution, maybe it was Vatika but got auto corrected as Vartika. A genuine mistake. Another time it was if I remember correctly, Pragyan or something, by mistake I typed it as Pragya. Forgot the N. I was inquiring about these institutions in a few groups, their address or contact numbers. My message box suddenly started buzzing and buzzing. Some who messaged me, I doubt they actually know me at all, In both instances the result was the same, some friends, strangers, acquaintances were messaging me directly. All men. Forget the institutions I was looking for, I seemed to have opened for some guys the floodgates of memories going back years and years, actually decades. A regression which was unintended but it seemed long buried memories were popping out all over. I never knew the power of the nam...
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Competent Legal Advisors for a Start up are a must.

  Competent Legal Advisors for a Start up are a must. Dinesh K Kapila Chief General Manager (Retd), NABARD (Published in The Business Sandesh, 3rd April 2026).  The area of law and legal advise is a somewhat gray area for most founders, often overlooked. Or delegated to their advisors or investors. This is specially in the case of fledging Agri Start ups. Often evolving without a cogent investor and the required mentoring. As we encourage start ups, particularly in the Agriculture Sector in the smaller towns and cities, the founders need to be aware about compliances, contracts non disclosure agreements, term sheets etc. My views are   based on some start ups I have interacted with, specially in the Agritech sector. I have benefitted by inputs from my son, Prashant Kumar Kapila, a practicing lawyer, who has tendered legal advise to select start ups. The typical founder is so involved in raising resources, testing pilots,   raising and deploying manpower, meetin...
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This Matchmaking is rather Difficult

 This Matchmaking is rather Difficult !  Dinesh K Kapila  My friends and acquaintances seem to think, to quote Lynda Cohen Loigman, in The Matchmakers Gift, “You have been blessed with eyes that can see the light of soulmates reaching for each other."  I truly wish it was so, at least I could then take pride in connecting souls made for each other. It would help pass the days and maybe bring about the occasional invite to a graceful wedding. That sadly is not to be. All I manage to do is to initiate the process, connect and then the disconnect happens on its own. And well it’s time to move on to another matchmaking attempt. Not that I volunteer, never, it’s dicey and risky, I could land up with all the blame. Or playing peacemaker if they do not get along, rather challenging and you tend to get caught in the middle, like a frightened deer. If you never have advised a young warring couple, you are just so lucky. The warring youngsters just cannot grasp that life has a...
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A Cultural Context to our Weakness in Manufacturing

  A Cultural Context to our Weakness in Manufacturing.   Dinesh K Kapila, CGM (Retd) NABARD (Published by The Business Sandesh 3/3/26)   Over the years,  one   thought  has preoccupied me.  India faces notable challenges  as  regards  innovation  in  manufacturing, influenced by both deep-rooted cultural attitudes and historical policies that prioritized stability over risk-taking and experimentation. These factors have contributed to low  investments in  R&D, preference for imported technology, and a services-led economy rather than  a  robust manufacturing  sector.  The preference for setting up units or businesses in the services sector and  for  white collar employment, engineers vying for  a  Masters  in Business and switching to Marketing , Finance, Banking,  Consultancy etc.  A  seasoned senior HR professional told me  jobs as junior salesmen ...
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Walking the Kapila-Chi Way

 Walking the Kapila- Chi Way  Dinesh K Kapila  We have yoga, then we have the gyms and then Tai Chi. You keep flowing through  various movements while controlling your breathing and your weight reduces, life span improves, balance gets better, the tummy goes in and presumably your spouse looks at you with more affection !! Tai Chi is life in slow motion, connecting as they  say the body with the mind ! And you move like a white crane spreading its wings ! All while standing in one area. You can do it sitting too. Your waist does the moves.  Mind and body and what not, it’s all so exotic.  Gymnasiums keep you inside climate controlled rooms. There it is just the body and the connection with the mind is rather overlooked. Just sweating it out. Maybe networking, many follow leading figures to their gyms.  Hence and here I propose, why not try walking the Kapila-Chi way. You are simply not walking but absorbing. Thinking. Connecting. There is just do ...
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We have an Aspirational Society – Are we prepared for it.

  We have an Aspirational Society – Are we prepared for it.   Dinesh K Kapila, CGM (Retd) NABARD (Published in The Business Sandesh dated 03/02/2026)   Around Republic Day is an appropriate time to reflect if we are building a nation in consonance with the aspirations of our youth. The personal experience I have, across India is that our youth seek more prosperous, fruitful and meaningful lives. The desire for economic progress and better governance runs deep. As a developmental banker, this was observed closely, including the demand for credit as a tool to further economic progress as also for consumption. Our developmental initiatives and paradigm must reflect this. More important, the political leadership must understand the evolving change.   Do our governance structures and models reflect the due incremental calibration which is required.   Are we administratively equipped for the changeover or ready to adapt our governance structures and mode of functi...
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Half a Century of Empowering Rural India. The Journey of RRBs

 Half a Century of Empowering Rural India: The RRB Journey.  By Dinesh K Kapila. (Published in Responsive Rural Banking on 01/01/2026).   Since their inception on October 2, 1975, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) have served as the backbone of India’s rural economy. Established to bridge the gap between organized banking and the underserved agrarian heartland, RRBs have in the last fifty years transformed from small district level small banking  units into state level institutional organisations.  The RRBs have a legacy of Inclusion. Of the unreached.  The journey began with the Prathama Bank, and today, RRBs manage a massive network that brings "banking to the doorstep." Over five decades, these institutions have successfully democratised  credit providing vital institutional credit to small and marginal farmers, agricultural laborers, and rural artisans. They have facilitated economic growth playing a pivotal role in  credit to the agriculture  ...
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