Background
Sorabji Pochkhanawala was born in Bombay (Mumbai) to Nasserwanji Pochkhanawala and Bai Gulbai. His father died when Sorabji was six, leaving the family in poverty as most of their savings had been lost in a bank failure.
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Sorabji Pochkhanawala
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After matriculating from Bombay University in 1897 at the age of 16, Pochkhanawala entered Saint Stephen"s College to begin his Bachelor studies, but left after failing his first examinations. With his brother"s help, he found a job in the Chartered Bank as a clerk, earning a salary of Rs. 20 per month. He also took a book-keeping course and subsequently passed the book-keeping examinations for the London Chamber of Commerce.
One day, while reading a copy of the Journal of the Institute of Bankers, London, he elected to study for the Institute"s examinations and qualify as a professional banker.
Though he passed the first set of examinations on his first attempt, he was disillusioned by the racism he encountered in the process. Ultimately, though, he succeeded in becoming the first Indian Certificated Associate of the Institute.
After seven years at the Chartered Bank, Pochkhanawala resigned in 1905. He then joined the newly established Bank of India, established by several Indian merchants, as an accountants
By this time, he had come to understand how the British dominated banking in India, which led him to envision a purely Indian-controlled bank, by which Indians could exercise dominance over their financial affairs
After successfully locating premises, they managed to form a board of directors after much difficulty. The prominent Parsi barrister Sir Pherozeshah Mehta was then invited to become chairman of the venture, and accepted. On 11 December 1911, the commenced business with a capital of 50 lakhs rupees, divided into 50-rupee shares.
40,000 shares were issued and soon subscribed.
Within its first week of official existence, over 70 accounts totaling 1.5 lakh rupees were opened. Pochkhanawala served as manager of the Central Bank from its establishment until 1920, subsequently becoming its managing director
Regarding his vision of founding the first Swadeshi Bank in India, Pochkhanawala said:
Pochkhanawala was knighted in the 1934 King"s Birthday Honours list for his services to banking in India, and formally invested with his knighthood at Viceroy"s House (now Rashtrapati Bhavan) on 1 March 1935 by the Viceroy, the Marquess of Willingdon. In 1934, he accepted the Government of Ceylon"s invitation to become Chairman of the Ceylon Banking Enquiry Commission.
He died on 4 July 1937 after an illness, aged 55.
Membership
He was named a member of the Government Securities Rehabilitation Committee the following year.
