From Sweeper To SBI AGM, Pratiskha Tondalwalkar’s Journey Is Awe Inspiring
Pratiksha Tondalwalkar: In the long odyssey that life is, often we reach unexpectedly pleasant destinations via untraversed paths that don’t seem to exist at all. Recently, a similar story about Pratiksha Tondwalker surfaced on the internet, garnering lots of love, and appreciation, and is also one of great inspiration. Pratiksha Tondwalkar is a self-made woman who started from scratch, showed great determination and perseverance, and built herself a great career. She began as a sweeper at the State Bank of India’s (SBI’s) Mumbai branch only to become the Assistant General Manager (AGM) 37 years later.
Early Life of Pratiksha
Born in 1964 in Pune, Tondalwalkar, hails from an underprivileged family. She was married off as a 16-year-old teenager to Sadashiv Kadu who worked as a book binder at SBI. Due to her early marriage, she was not even able to complete her 10th grade. Soon, she gave birth to her elder son Vinayak and her family traveled back to their village to seek blessings, as reported by Moneycontrol.
On returning from the village, her life took an unexpected turn as she lost her husband in an accident and became a widow at a young age of 20.
Speaking to Moneycontrol, she said, “At that time, I had to visit the SBI branch to collect the remaining dues of my husband. I knew I had to take up a job but I was not qualified. So, I asked the bank to help with a job so that I could survive.”
From where it all began
During her work as a sweeper, her aspirations to work in the bank were first stirred. “I knew I was not meant for this. I saw people working at the office and I knew I wanted to be one of them,” she said.
Eventually, she waded her way through the entailing struggles but not without help. Few officials at the bank helped her at every step from filling exam forms to getting studying material.
She got married again in 1993 to Pramod Tondalwakar who supported all her ambitions and helped with the household chores too. After all the struggles and hard work, she finally became a trainee officer and from there it was only upwards and forwards for her.
Her future plans
After years of dexterity and grit, Tondwalkar will now retire after two years. But this is not the end for her as she aims to pursue a career in naturopathy for which she also completed a course in 2021, reported Moneycontrol.