Widowed at 20, Pratiksha Tondwalkar rose from sweeper at SBI to deputy general manager

Many people break when hardship comes, but some turn it into strength. Pratiksha Tondwalkar of Maharashtra is one such example. Her husband died when she was just 20. She had a one-year-old son in her lap and no steady means of running the household. To support the family, she took up work as a cleaning staffer at SBI. That job turned out to give her life a new direction. She went on to complete her education and rose to the post of Assistant General Manager (AGM) in the same bank.

Pratiksha was born in Pune in 1964. Her childhood was spent in financial hardship. Because she was married at 16 or 17, she had to leave school after Class 7. She was married to Sadashiv Kadu. Just three years after the wedding, her husband died in a road accident. Pratiksha was 20 then, and her son was one year old.

After her husband's death, the entire responsibility for her son fell on her. To feed herself and her son, she did odd jobs such as sewing and embroidery. She then went to an SBI branch in Mumbai to collect her late husband's unpaid salary. There she asked the branch manager to help her find a job, telling him she needed a source of income to raise her son.

After she waited five months, the bank offered her a part-time sweeper's job. She started work at SBI in 1985. She then earned about Rs 60 to 65 a month. Before the branch opened, she was responsible for sweeping and mopping the bank premises, cleaning the toilets and dusting the furniture.

Even after getting the job, she did not give up her dream of studying. She bought books from a scrap dealer and completed her schooling. She passed Class 10 with 60 per cent marks. She then did Class 12 at a night college in Vikhroli, Mumbai. Later she graduated in psychology.

In 1990 she was promoted from sweeper to messenger. After completing her graduation, she passed the bank's internal departmental examination in 1995 and became a clerk-cashier. In 1993 she had married Pramod Tondwalkar, a second marriage. He encouraged her to take the bank's internal examinations and to aim for higher posts in SBI. With steady preparation and hard work, Pratiksha passed the required examinations and reached the post of probationary officer. Over the past few years she has held several senior responsibilities. In June 2022 she became Assistant General Manager (AGM) at SBI, and later reached an important milestone as Deputy General Manager (DGM).