This 26th November marks the 13th anniversary of the Mumbai Terrorist attack leaving many families inconsolable, including families from Mauritius.
Chaitlall (Anil) Gunness, ex Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the State Bank of Mauritius (SBM), was on a business trip and was staying with his wife at the Taj Mahal Hotel in November 2008. The business trip was just a month before he was to retire as CEO of SBM. No one could ever foresee that he was going to be a victim in the Mumbai terror attack that also targeted the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel. His wife Mrs. Amrita Gunness, was outside of the hotel at the time of the attack, and hence, she was safe. However, she went been through the worst moment of her existence at that time. It was Rajiv Servansingh and the Consul, Ravi Sawmy who identified the senior banking executive. Mr. Servansingh also did everything he could in order to find Mrs. Gunness and remained in contact with her as a support throughout this traumatic moment.
The Friday following the attack, Mr. Kumar Gunness, the elder brother of the CEO along with one of the representatives of the SBM, Mr. Jairaj Sonoo flew to Mumbai to complete all formalities in order to bring the corpse of Anil Gunness back home.
Charming, very calm, and smiling are the three words that come to mind when remembering Anil Gunness.
“A very good friend, a complete man, an excellent father, a great husband, and an extraordinary brother“, are the words chosen by his family members and friends to describe the man who remained appreciated and loved by everyone who knew him. He was a man who believed in his dreams and worked hard to reach where he was. His beginning was small, but he had become great by dint of hard work.
An example to follow, Anil Gunness built himself, little by little, and moved forward step by step. As a child, he was already very ambitious. After his primary schooling at the Chooromonee Government School, also known as Bassin school, where the Gunness family originates from, he joined New Eton College for his secondary education and after many sacrifices, he enrolled at the University of Mauritius and then flew to England to continue with his tertiary education. After his studies, he joined a college in Rivière-des-Anguilles where he worked as a teacher before joining the SBM group in the 80s as a simple accountant. With much hard work and dedication, he quickly rose through the ranks. He has invested a lot in the success of the bank and this was reflected in his career as he became Chief Executive Officer in 2003, serving the bank for more than twenty years.
We were able to talk to a former employee of SBM, who worked as Mr. Anil Gunness’ secretary for a while. She speaks of him as a hard worker, a much-disciplined man. At that time, he was the General Manager and worked hard to improve the bank and create other branches. He was behind the implementation of a new IT system for the bank. Work was his life and he lost his life at work. His death was a great shock to the bank’s staffs who couldn’t believe this happened. To recall, he was the CEO of the bank when this tragedy happened.
Commemorating this date, Mr. Anil Gunness shall remain in the memories and hearts of many as being one of the greatest men they’ve known. A big loss for his family, friends and for the country.
