"Life presents both positive and negative possibilities. The important thing is recognising that the choice of who one becomes remains within."
Introduction
Dr. (H.C.) Natasha Devi Gunessee stands today as a financial leader with more than twenty one years of experience in the banking sector. Her work has grown through branch banking, private banking, finance, legal and regulatory responsibilities, market risk, liquidity management, and Asset and Liability Management. That progression has given her more than a collection of roles. It has given her a view of banking that begins with the client at the counter and extends to the decisions placed before executive leadership.
Her professional strength lies in the way she brings several disciplines together. She understands the precision required by financial reporting, the vigilance demanded by risk management, and the foresight needed when a financial institution plans for profitability, capital adequacy, and sustainable growth. Her responsibilities have involved regulatory governance, stress testing, scenario analysis, liquidity risk, contingency planning, and the interpretation of information that influences strategic decisions. She has also made automation a consistent part of her work, from early improvements in archiving and financial reporting to regulatory reporting through XBRL and the development of dashboards for faster, clearer oversight.
Yet the position she holds cannot be understood by beginning only with her current title. Her journey began in a close family of four and in a childhood where cousins, ceremonies, birthdays, seaside outings, and gatherings created a strong sense of belonging. She was social, curious, and willing to participate. School was a place for learning, but it was also a place to meet friends, exchange ideas, and discover the subjects that naturally held her attention.
Numbers entered that life early. She remembers taking a calculator and pressing its buttons, absorbed by figures even before she knew what she was calculating. As her education advanced, the attraction became clearer. Accounting, economics, mathematics, and information technology offered the combination she enjoyed. While other members of her immediate family followed science subjects, she chose a direction of her own. That choice was not an act of distance from them. It was an early recognition of where her own abilities and interests were leading.
Education demanded travel. From childhood schooling in Port Louis to university studies that required two buses, distance became a familiar part of her routine. Later, when employment began before the completion of her degree, travel became only one element of a more demanding balance. She worked through busy periods, attended lectures after office hours, sometimes took a taxi when a missed bus threatened to make her late, and depended upon friends for notes when work prevented her from reaching a class. The qualifications she earned therefore represent more than academic completion. They reflect persistence across overlapping responsibilities.
Banking entered her life through an opportunity she had not originally expected. She had applied for work placement, but First City Bank Ltd asked whether she would consider becoming an employee instead. The offer arrived while she was still at university. Soon after an interview, the confirmation call came during an examination, forcing her to find a way to answer without disturbing the rules of the examination room. She was selected and asked to begin the following Monday. The timing left little space for a leisurely transition. She accepted the opening and changed her studies to part time.
What followed was not a rapid leap over the foundations of banking. Dr. Natasha learned them. She worked in branches, handled deposits and advances, dealt with interbank transactions, supported client services, and accepted assignments in different locations. She moved through deposits, the main branch, operations, finance, legal and regulatory work, market risk, and ultimately Asset and Liability Management. That willingness to learn each area from its working level became one of the defining patterns of her career.
"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."
Phase 1: The Family Circle That Shaped Her
Dr. Natasha grew up in a household of four. Her father, Gheeanduth Rajkishore Gunessee, her mother, Vijay Luxmi Gunessee, her elder brother, Taroon Sharma Gunessee, and she formed the immediate family at the centre of her early world. She was the younger child, although the distance between the two siblings was only ten months. That small age difference gave their relationship a particular closeness. They belonged to nearly the same season of childhood, growing through many experiences side by side rather than as children separated by several years.
Her family was Hindu, and culture was present in daily life as something lived rather than formally announced. It appeared in gatherings, ceremonies, shared occasions, and the ease with which relatives came together. The family did not exist as an isolated unit. Around it was a much larger circle of grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. Several cousins were close to her age, which made family occasions feel naturally social for the children. They played together, spoke freely, and grew familiar with one another through repeated meetings.
On her mother’s side, her grandmother’s home was a frequent gathering place. The distance from Dr. Natasha’s home was manageable, around fifteen to twenty minutes by car, and the house became one of the settings in which the wider family assembled. Her mother’s sisters and brothers would arrive with their own families. Adults met one another while the children found their own enjoyment in playing and moving through the familiar company of cousins.
The paternal side offered another circle of closeness. Gatherings often took place at an uncle’s home. Her father’s brother also had two children around the same age as Dr. Natasha and her brother, adding to a group of cousins who could share the occasion as companions. The journey to that home was somewhat longer, but it was still near enough for family contact to remain regular rather than rare.
These meetings were connected to birthdays and ceremonies, but they were not limited to formal occasions. At times, a Sunday itself was enough reason to plan something together. A seaside picnic could gather the family beyond the walls of a home and turn the day into a shared outing. Her mother’s elder sister had married into a family that owned buses, and many activities were organised from that side of the family. A bus could carry the relatives around the island, bringing together adults and children for an experience that was communal from beginning to end.
For the young Dr. Natasha, those trips meant movement, play, and company. They also created a sense that family life could extend across the island without losing its intimacy. The journey was not merely transport to a destination. Everyone was part of it. Conversations, laughter, planning, and the energy of the children travelled together. The closeness she remembers was formed through repeated acts of being present in one another’s lives.
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
Phase 2 : One Hour Each Way to the Classroom
Dr. Natasha’s formal education began at the age of three when she attended Birds of Paradise Pre Primary School. At that age, school belonged to the earliest stage of discovery. Her natural curiosity already made the world something to examine, and entering a classroom gave that curiosity its first organised setting.
At the age of five, she began her pre-primary education at Young Men Government School in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, before transferring to Villiers René Government School, where she continued her primary studies. The daily journey from her hometown to the capital quickly became a defining routine. Education was rarely close to home, and travel itself became part of the school day. By bus, the trip often lasted an hour; by car, thirty-five to forty minutes. For a young child, these journeys were not incidental but formative.
From Standard Two through Standard Six, she attended several government schools, each requiring regular travel to Port Louis. Changing schools demanded adaptation, yet it also broadened the environments in which she learned. The rhythm of leaving her hometown, commuting to the capital, entering the classroom, and returning home instilled an early familiarity with distance. Years later, when university and professional life required similar journeys, the habit felt natural — a pattern established long before adult responsibilities began.
She Attended her secondary education at SSS Sharma Jugdambi, located in Goodlands, her hometown. The move brought school closer geographically, yet the academic expectations continued to rise. She remained there through her School Certificate and Higher School Certificate studies.
The school environment was demanding. Examination results influenced which colleges and later which universities became available. Competition among students could be fierce because strong marks opened more choices. Dr. Natasha understood that she needed to work hard, but she did not define herself as the student who had to be recognised as a genius or occupy the top position at every moment. Her approach was more grounded. She tried to do her best, work seriously, and obtain good results without turning achievement into an identity built entirely upon ranking.
Her teachers supported that discipline through repetition and recall. A lesson taught on one day might be revisited at the next class. Students could be asked to explain what they had covered previously and whether they had revised their notes. The expectation made regular revision part of learning. Knowledge was not meant to be heard once and left behind. It had to be returned to, expressed, and strengthened.
School also held a strong social meaning for her. Meeting friends was one of the reasons she enjoyed going. She was participative, comfortable talking, and inclined to engage with others. During secondary school, friendships extended beyond the classroom into tuition and weekend routines. Saturdays often involved meeting at an agreed place, taking a bus together, and attending additional lessons.
"Learning never exhausts the mind."
Phase 3 : When Numbers Opened the First Door
When secondary school ended, Dr. Natasha carried her interest in numbers and technology into higher education. She enrolled at the University of Technology, Mauritius, beginning with a Certificate in Information Technology. The qualification, completed in 2005, provided a foundation in the field that had already become one of her chosen subjects. She then continued towards a BSc Honours in Business Information System, completed in 2006.
University brought freedom of choice, but it also brought distance. The campus was far from her hometown, and reaching it required two buses. The journey demanded time before a lecture even began and more travel after the academic day was over. What had once been a childhood routine of travelling towards Port Louis became a more independent responsibility. She had to manage the route, the timetable, the work, and the expectations attached to a degree.
The combination of business and information systems suited the direction her interests had taken. Accounting and mathematics had given her confidence with figures. Information technology offered a way to organise, process, and communicate them. The course did not separate business from systems. It brought them together, reflecting a relationship that would later become central to her professional life as she repeatedly used automation to improve financial and regulatory reporting.
Before banking entered her career, Dr. Natasha had a short experience at Cargotech. After an examination period and the beginning of the December holidays, she spent one month working with the company. She enjoyed the experience. It gave her an early opportunity to move beyond lectures and see how a workplace functioned.
During the second semester of her second year, the university required students to complete a three month work placement. She began applying to companies, including several banks. At that point, the immediate goal was placement rather than permanent employment. The response from First City Bank Ltd changed the nature of the opportunity. Instead of inviting her only as a student on temporary placement, the bank asked whether she would consider becoming an employee.
The question arrived before she had graduated. It therefore carried both promise and pressure. Accepting employment would mean entering professional life while academic responsibilities were still active. Dr. Natasha did not allow the fact that she had not completed the degree to close the door. When asked why she should not seize the opportunity, she agreed to proceed and attended the interview.
She was still mentally occupied with examinations. The interview came during an academic period when revision and assessments were already demanding her attention. A few days later, she was sitting for another examination when her mobile telephone began to signal silently. Students were not permitted to answer calls, and an invigilator would follow anyone who left the room. Yet the call could not easily be ignored. She found a way to step out and answer it privately.
Note of Thanks
Dr. Natasha offers her first expression of thanks to Swami Nithyananda, whose guidance and ashram became part of a decisive change in her life. The course she attended in 2017 helped her understand growth as a matter of conscious choice and opened a wider view of what a person may become. The memory of arriving after a difficult journey, receiving a warm welcome, and hearing words that acknowledged her presence remains deeply meaningful.
Her gratitude also extends to the teachers who guided her through different stages of education. From the classrooms of childhood to university study and professional training, each teacher contributed to the knowledge upon which later responsibilities were built. Some encouraged daily revision. Others carried her into business systems, financial risk, capital, liquidity, and regulation. Their influence continues through the work she now performs.
Dr. Natasha thanks her well-wishers and friends who remained present across the years. Friends shared notes when work prevented her from attending lectures. They travelled to tuition, exchanged reminders, gathered beneath trees at school, met for movies, visited the seaside, and returned during weekends and festive seasons. Their companionship gave warmth to periods that might otherwise have been defined only by deadlines and responsibility.
She also acknowledges the colleagues and leaders who welcomed her into banking, trusted her with new duties, and allowed her to grow across departments. Every opportunity to learn another function widened her professional understanding.
Gratitude, in her life, is not separated from progress. It recognises that individual effort becomes stronger through guidance, patience, friendship, trust, and the people who help make the next step possible.
thanks,
– Dr. (H.C.) Natasha Devi Gunessee
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