"Don't mind it, but was Messi also a post-graduate in history? Not often, but I am sometimes reminded by people that I am supposed to have done history," Das said.
Das, a bureaucrat who has done a master's degree in history from
The first non-economist governor of the RBI in 28 years, Das recently completed four years at the helm, captaining the ship amid choppy waters and taking on crises like the Covid pandemic and the inflation surge following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Since his appointment, many critics, especially ones on social media, have been harping on Das' academic record as a history graduate, while those in defence often point out his long stint in the finance ministry at high positions including work in economic affairs secretary and India's G-20 sherpa to drive home his credentials to lead the central bank.
Meanwhile, Das reminisced briefly about his student life in New Delhi during the fireside chat, mentioning how a
Das admitted that it is very difficult to remember numbers like the lending rate hikes of 117 basis points (bps) in the system, but "visualizing" the bus route number has helped him.
"The lending rates have gone up by about 117 bps. I remember 117 because, in my student days, they had a DTC bus with that number 117," Das quipped.
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