The journey of this woman is extremely emotional with a happy ending, but all along is highly motivational. Multiple recent studies have suggested that the younger generation today is disconnected from their organisations, but continue to work only as they have to pay their EMIs at the end of the month.
However, for Pratiksha Tondwalkar, work was not only an assignment it was a ladder to prove hard work pays off in the long run. This Pune resident got married when she was a teenager, but was widowed at the age of 20 with a young child to take care of. She worked hard and went on to build a long career at the State Bank of India, rising from a part-time sweeper to a deputy general manager at the bank, before pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor.
According to The Hindustan Times, Tondwalkar was born in 1964 and grew up in a financially poor household, where she couldn't continue her formal education beyond class 7. She got married in her teens, but her life changed after the death of her husband a couple of years later.
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To make ends meet and ensure she could take care of her young child, Tondwalkar took up jobs like tailoring and embroidery. She then connected with SBI when she visited a bank branch in Mumbai to collect salary dues owed to her late husband. During the visit, she spoke to the branch manager at the bank and requested to consider her if there was any work available so she could earn a steady income.
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After a few months (circa 1985), she was offered the job of a part-time sweeper at the bank. She was asked to clean the branch before it opened, which included sweeping, mopping and similar maintenance work. Her monthly earnings at the time were around Rs 65.
While working at the bank, Tondwalkar decided to resume her education, believing that academics would help her move into better roles. She sourced old schoolbooks, studied at night and eventually cleared her class 10 board exam with 60 per cent marks on her first attempt. She went on to complete Class 12 from a night college in Mumbai, despite working all along and then graduated in Psychology, the report said.
Her progress in academics opened new opportunities within SBI. In 1990, she moved from the sweeper's position to the role of a messenger. After completing her graduation, she cleared an internal departmental exam in 1995 and was promoted to the role of a clerk-cum-cashier.
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She married Pramod Tondwalkar in 1993, who encouraged her to pursue her education and continue to appear for internal bank exams. Over the years, she cleared several tests and moved through the organisation, eventually taking on senior responsibilities, including that of the Deputy General Manager.
Her accomplished a milestone in her career in June 2022 when she became an Assistant General Manager at SBI, decades after starting off as a part-time sweeper. She retired from the bank at around 55 years of age, but retirement did not stop her from aspiring to become a doctor.
She pursued her long term goal of becoming a doctor and completed a two-year naturopathy course, which allowed her to fulfilling her aspiration of becoming a doctor.
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