Book Review of My Life as a Banker

 

REVIEW BY SHANITA VICHARE OF MY              LIFE AS A BANKER WRITTEN BY
                    BRENDA MOHAMMED

Reading through the pages of this scintillating book, MY LIFE AS A BANKER, I have been very impressed by Brenda Mohammed's upbringing as a young girl, born into a big family of ten., She never ever lost a moment to learn from any given situation.

She has been a lifelong learner and a winner too.

Her life deeply reflects her 'Presbyterian Church's values and she has taken to the free flow of life, under 'divine guidance.'

I sure recalled Oprah Winfrey's, YouTube Show "My Success & Spiritual Journey, where she quotes her favourite Bible Acts Proverb 16.3 "Lord, Thy God Is A Loving God" and deeply admires Acts 17-28. Proverb - " You are God's Child and Through God All Things are Possible.".

Here I see beautiful synchronicity of life's experiences, times, and circumstances that prevailed. In Brenda's book,.

She writes about her early days before her father rose to the rank of 'Headmaster' of Presbyterian Church Schools.

They had no electricity in their house, lived in a dreary-looking house, and an open yard.

I quote, "My sisters and I played many games under that tree and feasted on the big juicy almonds it bore. There was a large orchard of fruit trees at the back of the house. We enjoyed oranges, bananas, pomcytres, and mangoes whenever they were in season."

Two married Canadian missionaries approached her parents to adopt her.

The husband was the Church Minister and he had baptized her at birth.

Brenda's parents did not grant their wish and they returned to Canada after one year in Trinidad.

Brenda was loved by her parents.

Well growing up, in a small rustic village in the lap of nature, sure gave Brenda a very juberious experience.

She developed a love for family pets.

Her fishing experiences with her brother are so scenic.

Her father took them to Manzanilla, one of the popular beach resorts in Trinidad.

I think that was the beginning of her love for her native island of Trinidad.

At a young age, Brenda's life was influenced by the Passion Play, which the Church Youth Group performed under the supervision of the church minister, Reverend Roy NeehalI (deceased).

She was a member of the school choir at St. Augustine Girls' High School and would always remember Miss Lenore Mahase, the music teacher, who trained her to sing.

Lenore Mahase played the piano beautifully too.

She conducted the choir with her hands and used her fingers to show them how to form the words as they sang.

In the school dormitory, on occasions, the matron allowed them to go to hockey matches when St Augustine Girls played against other schools in Port of Spain.

One of the older girls in the higher form was put in charge of them.

Brenda fondly remembers their school chanted this and cheered the school crowds at the matches:

St Augustine High,

St Augustine High Yiketty Yackety aye, aye, aye!

Show 'em how to play girls, show 'em how to fight,

Yiketty Yackety aye, aye, aye.

Brenda learned most of her worldly gospels from the church, her school life. and when she lived in the school hostel.

She and her husband met at the bank.

She had yearned to meet her life partner, just like any other sensitive girl does.

Her father too had been really worried as she was most deserving and had made strong individual choices in her life.

Maya Angelou's quote is so befitting here "Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope."

Brenda Mohammed's turning point in her life as an 'Accountant'; came when she went on transfer from Couva Branch to the High Street Bank, San Fernando Branch.

ln those days, Englishmen managed most of the branches of Trinidad.

The Head Office of Barclays Bank D.C.O. in the United Kingdom made all managerial appointments.

Barclays Bank owned the majority shareholding then.

She had to accomplish her new skill sets and came out with flying colours, in her ' Computer Aptitude Test'.

These big steps lead her to master further as a Head in 'Foreign Trade'.

Turning through the pages of this awesome book, I definitely felt that Brenda Mohammed's journey from a small-town girl and from honing her job skills from doing ledger entries to head as Relief Manager and rise to the Corporate Level as a Senior Manager has indeed been very remarkable.

In due course of her life, she did bear the personal loss of her most loved ones, but she managed her hurdles in the best possible ways.

I think for her "Work Is Worship."

By Aneeta Chitale

BIO: Shanita Vichare is a prominent poet and an author from India who has been writing vivid fiction and poetry from a very young age.

 Shanita Vichare has authored.' Sojourn To Maldives and a couple of short stories. Shanita Vichare (aka: Aneeta Chitale continues to inspire the world's readers by setting a benchmark in the world of poetry. All © Copyrights reserved by Aneeta Chitale

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