he yielded to negative public sentiment about sita ’ s purity and banished sita into exile in the forest for a second time. sage valmiki provided shelter to a pregnant sita in his ashram ( hermitage ) where she delivered twin sons named luv and kush. sage valmiki trained luv and kush to be masters in archery so that no one on earth could defeat them in war. he also taught them about divine and celestial warfare. ram decided to perform ashwamedha yagna to enlarge his empire. the ashwamedha yagna is a ritual where an emperor sends out a horse accompanied by his army to various neighboring kingdoms. the local king has two options. he could either allow the horse to wander, signaling that his kingdom is annexed. or, he could tie up the horse, indicating that he was ready to battle the emperor ’ s army. the horse wandered into the forest where luv and kush lived and the twins tied up the horse, not knowing its significance. ram sent hanuman to retrieve the horse. hanuman recognized luv and kush as the sons of ram. he let them capture him and tie him up. worried, ram sent his brothers and his army to look for the horse. as they saw hanuman tied up and luv and kush guarding him, they thought the two boys had stolen the horse. bis central bankers ’ speeches so ram ’ s brothers started attacking luv and kush who defeated them all. eventually, ram himself came to confront them in battle and eventually learned that luv and kush were his children. once sita witnessed the acceptance of her children by ram, sita sought final refuge in the arms of her mother bhumi devi ( the goddess earth ), to receive her and as the ground opens, she vanishes into it. if you want to learn how it is ram did not know he had these two powerful sons, then i encourage you to read the ramayana. for me, luv and kush represent the future of central banking … a strong approach of specialized, skills that can take on any force. at central bank, we are building capacity in specialized skills such as anti - money laundering, actuarial science, cyber security and operational risk. demand is also picking up for expert skills in strategic communications, international relations, and behavioral psychology. a decade ago, these skill sets were nowhere on the radar of central bank. like luv and

humble but powerful emissary, defeated the evil king ravan of lanka and rescued his wife sita who had been abducted by ravan. upon ram ’ s return from exile, the people of ayodhya celebrated by lighting rows of deyas to welcome him back. this is perhaps the most common story of the origin of divali. last year, instead of going with the obvious, we chose the character hanuman for our divali program. in selecting hanuman, we realized there were themes and lessons in the ramayana that were very applicable to the central bank. we highlighted how like hanuman, central bank is a faithful servant to the people of our country. we highlighted how we diligently ensure their financial protection, no matter the size and ferocity of the ravans ( demons ) we take on. this year, we decided to continue with our exploration of the ramayana because it is my one intention that anyone attending our cultural programs should walk away with a greater appreciation and new found respect for whatever artform we are showcasing. bis central bankers ’ speeches so tonight when you leave here, no matter where you come from, i hope you are inspired not to see the ramayana as a deeply religious, complex hindu holy book, but a story poetically written that has at its heart the universal triumph of good over evil. tonight ’ s performance is entitled paanch kahani. it is hindi for five stories. we selected five stories from the ramayana because central bank is celebrating its 50th anniversary this december, and each story represents a decade in the bank ’ s life. the five stories to be performed by nrityanjali theatre are not the obvious divali stories with which many of us are familiar, but they are stories from the ramayana with powerful messages for central banking. the first story is about a lesser celebrated character in the ramayana, but incidentally the entire reason the epic ramayana was written. the first story is about shravan kumar. his life was one of devotion to his parents and this is what led to his death and triggered the chain of events that is the ramayana. the second story is about king dashrath whose karma and that of shravan kumar were inextricably linked. the third and fourth stories are about ram ’ s brothers, bharat and lakshman. the final story is about ram ’ s twin sons, luv and kush. shravan kumar ’ s story is applicable