My first boss, an irrepressible Irishman called Desmond Doig, taught me that if someone takes the time to write to you personally, you should always return the favour. I have followed that rule all my life. Every reader who writes to me gets a personal reply, and more than just a 'Thank you for your kind words'.

Perhaps Mr Kriti Raman, manager of HDFC Bank at Delhi's Shastri Nagar, didn't have any such mentors; when a customer writes him a letter, he just passes it down the line. I got a reply from Ms Purnima Joshi, the Backup Branch Manager. The second time I wrote to Mr Raman, he didn't even bother to do that. The bank as a whole just ignored my letter.