Amid Crisis, Indians Bank On Old Ways

Conservative, Regulated Institutions Offer Customers a Sense of Security Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, October 7, 2008; Page A12 NEW DELHI -- Clutching a bunch of bank papers, Lakshmi Rajgopal squeezed through a narrow gated entrance and walked past a long line of customers jostling at the cashier's window. Some were complaining about the slow service, their voices muffled by the whir and creak of old printers. This grim, cramped government-owned bank may lack the polish of the more modern private banks springing up nationwide. But to Rajgopal, a 50-year-old radiologist, it's now the safest place to deposit her family savings. "When the American financial system is collapsing, I am happy we still have the old-fashioned conservative banks in India. Thank God we did not globalize too much," Rajgopal said, sitting... [read full story]