Devil in Pinstripes (7 page)

‘I am listening, Sharmila. Go ahead.’

‘Amit, are you aware of GE Countrywide?’

‘Yes.’ Who isn’t, he thought to himself. General Electric had a finance company in India called GE Countrywide. They ran a very successful finance business in India and offered auto loans, personal loans and consumer durable loans in the country.

‘They are planning to enter the mortgage business in this country. They have identified this as a business which holds enormous potential in the years to come. You have experience in mortgages right? Home loans? You know what I am talking about?’

‘Yes. As a branch manager, I provide home loans to my clients. It forms a sizable portion of my branch performance ranking tables.’

‘Oh, great. Now they are looking for someone to lead the project team for the launch of the mortgage business for them. This person could eventually become the business manager for mortgages.’

‘OKAY.’

‘Would something like this interest you?’

It sounded exciting. GE was a good name – a brand which was big or even bigger than NYB, and could be a good opportunity to fast- track his career. On the flip side, he had no reason to look outside NYB. However, if an opportunity had come knocking at his door, why say no? The only thing stopping him from looking outside thus far was his relationship with the iconic Aditya Bhatnagar, his own boss, Raj Mathur and a few other seniors at the bank. At his level, there weren’t too may people who could boast of such big names in the industry as godfathers. They would take care of him if ever he needed any help. The comfort of their presence was overbearing. However, of late there had been rumours of Aditya moving overseas and Raj quitting the bank. Either he could chart his own course or follow them wherever they went. It might not be a bad idea to at least have a ‘Plan B’, i.e. to try and chart his own course.

‘Sounds interesting . . .’ A possible business manager’s job. At this age, if he was able to swing it, it would be a great career move.

‘Where will this job be based?’ he continued, suddenly remembering that he had to keep his wife’s career in mind too. Her job with SCB was Mumbai based. He didn’t want to uproot her again. Hadn’t he done that once?

‘Delhi or Mumbai depending on the person they hire,’ Sharmila added.

‘Can I recommend something, Amit?’ said Sharmila after a small pause. She continued without waiting for his response. ‘Why don’t you send me your CV? I will discuss the same with GE and come back to you.’

‘Sure.’

The email ids were exchanged and the phone ended with Amit promising to send his CV that night.

‘Why do you want to shift?’ Chanda asked him when she saw him updating his CV that night.

‘It will take me ages to become a business manager here.’

‘How does that make a difference? Aren’t you happy here?’

‘Chanda, it will fast forward my career by a minimum of three years. And GE is not a bad company to work for.’

‘But do you think you will be able to manage it if you get it? It’s one thing getting something before time, it’s completely different being able to manage it without the requisite experience. If you are not ready for it and still decide to take it up, you might be risking your career. Have you considered that you might screw it up big time and muck up the reputation that you have built up over the years? GE will find someone else to do the job, but you will not be able to find an alternate livelihood.’

‘You doubt your husband’s skills and ability, sweetheart.’

When Amit said this, Chanda couldn’t argue with him. She let it be. That night Amit sent his CV to Sharmila Ganguly at Spenta Consultants. For the first time since he got out of campus, he had sent his CV to a recruitment consultant.

A few days later, Aditya ran into Amit in the banking hall. By then, Amit had moved up to be the branch manager of the Fort branch in Mumbai. A branch in which he had started his career as a relationship manager. Aditya had some free time on hand and had come down. A personal cheque was also to be deposited. Amit was in the hall seeing off a client when he bumped into Aditya. They spoke for a few minutes, with the branch performance dominating the discussion.

‘How’s Chanda?’

‘She’s fine Aditya. Chugging along at SCB. She has recently been promoted to the next level. She manages the phone banking set up for the entire western region for all products now.’

‘Bastard, you didn’t tell me. Looks like SCB loves her. She became a supervisor only two years back right?’

‘Yes Aditya.’
He remembers this . . . wow! What a guy!
Amit couldn’t help being impressed.

‘The least you can do is buy me a drink in celebration.’

‘Sure Aditya. Anytime.’

‘That’s like avoiding.’

‘No Aditya. Anytime at your convenience.’

‘How about tonight?’

‘Tonight?’

‘Why? Not possible? See I told you, you are a miserly bastard.’

‘No no, Aditya, not at all. It’s a deal. Tonight it is then!’

‘Done.’

‘Sure Aditya. You and Natasha, at Indigo Deli in Colaba. I will let Chanda know.’

‘Okay. See ya!’ Saying that, Aditya disappeared.

That night the four of them – Aditya, Natasha, Amit and Chanda met at Indigo Deli in Colaba. This was the special thing about Aditya. The guy had his shortcomings, but in terms of motivating people and inspiring them, there was no one like him. It’s hard to imagine a country head going for a night out with a branch manager to celebrate his wife’s success. Aditya was one of kind.

Natasha was looking ravishing in a pink dress. Over the years, she had transformed into a person with an elegant sense for aesthetics and believed in simplicity. The pink flowing dress was complemented by diamond studs and a solitary chain that she wore around her delicate and sensuous neck. She looked attractive. Despite the two children and so many years of marriage, the age didn’t show.

Amit had booked a table for four and had specifically requested that they be given some privacy. The Deli owners had given them some room on the first floor where they only had three tables. Amit didn’t want to be noticed by colleagues who might just drop in. He was concerned that his dinner with Aditya might become the topic of gossip and loose talk over the next few days if someone sees him there. They ordered some drinks – whisky for Aditya and Vodka for Amit. Natasha settled for some wine. Chanda was a teetotaller and ordered fresh lime soda for herself.

A few rounds of drinks later, Aditya looked at Chanda and asked, ‘Why do you work for SCB?’ He gave a purposeful pause after that. Almost as an afterthought he added, ‘and not for NYB?’

Chanda didn’t know what to say. She looked at Amit and then back at Aditya. Aditya had stumped her and left her perplexed.

‘Aditya, I don’t know.’ Chanda stammered. ‘SCB was the first job I got and . . . and . . . the fact is also that no one has asked me this earlier.’

‘If there was an opportunity, would you?’

Chanda looked at Amit. He was smiling. It was Aditya’s style. Invariably, he would put people in a spot by asking completely unexpected questions. Completely unpredictable. That was Aditya.

‘Ya, surely. If there is a good opportunity. But why do you ask?’

‘Why would you work for NYB?’

‘It’s a good organisation. Good people . . .’ She was still thinking about politically correct things to say.

‘If you think so, then why don’t you tell this to this husband of yours. Tell him that GE does not deserve him. He will be better served working with NYB.’

When Amit heard this, he was shocked. The smile disappeared from his face in a jiffy. How the hell did Aditya know about GE? The only people, apart from his wife and himself, were the consultant and HR at GE.

‘Ady . . . Aditya, I do . . . don’t understand. Where did you hear this from? Not true at all.’

‘Son, I am paid to keep a watch on all of you. That’s my job. You folks are my key resources. If I can’t keep a watch on you, then I am not doing my job. What say?’ and then he turned his attention to Chanda. ‘So what do you want to do?’

Chanda was equally stumped. She didn’t expect Aditya to know about GE. If she sounded nervous, it would be a give away. She decided to play on.

‘Aditya, I want to get into a product role. As a phone banking supervisor for the western region, I have had exposure to all products and have a reasonably good understanding of what consumers expect. I would definitely consider moving, if I get some kind of a product role. Possible?’

‘If not, I will create one madam!’ said Aditya in a drawling voice. ‘We need people like you to take this organisation to the next level. Not people like your husband who doesn’t realise what this organisation can do for him.’ Amit didn’t react. Whatever he said or did could be held against him. Aditya didn’t raise this discussion again, and the dinner went off peacefully.

The dinner ended soon thereafter and both couples went their own ways. Aditya’s car zipped through the near empty streets on Colaba enroute their Bandra Pali Hill residence. Natasha looked at Aditya. It was one of those few dinners where Aditya had not had too much to drink.

‘Why did you ask Chanda to join you?’

‘You will never understand this, Natasha. Amit is one of our key guys. He has just moved to head the largest branch in Mumbai for us. Below him I do not have the bandwidth to replace him. What do I do? I know he is interviewing with GE. If he goes, I know the business will suffer. I need some time to identify a replacement and put him there. If I give his wife a job with us, it raises his stakes here. He will think twice before quitting. Even if he leaves sixty-ninety days down the line, I really don’t care. By that time I would have built adequate back up in the system. Giving his wife a job is only to hold him back. It will prick his conscience hard if he quits within days of us giving his wife a bigger job.’

‘Aren’t you mean, Aditya? The poor fellow thinks that you are helping him.’

‘He is a good guy to have. Has a good future at NYB. I am only helping him. And in the process, helping myself. You won’t understand Natasha. Leave this to me.’

That night, Chanda and Amit had a prolonged discussion on whether or not Chanda should be joining the bank. Whether it made sense or not? What are the positives of both of them working in the same bank? Oblivious of Aditya’s self-centric intent, they trusted him completely. They were willing to place themselves in the hands of someone for whom they were just a means to achieve a number, a target, a goal. Anything else just didn’t matter.

‘What happens to the GE offer then?’ asked Chanda.

‘If Aditya gives you a good offer at NYB, I will drop GE.’

‘What about the business manager role?’

‘It’s fine. I will wait for it. I realised today. It’s better to work with someone who has your interest at heart, rather than a business manager designation with an organisation where you know no one.’

‘I agree.’

And that was the end of their discussion. GE was dumped. Aditya had protected his turf.

N
ew York International Bank carried all its lending business through an independent financial services arm – a company called NYB Financial Services (NFS). The latter was a large company with a network of over a hundred branches across the country. It was a subsidiary of NYB and was managed and run like an independent company, with a completely different management. It had its own CEO, its own board of directors, its own processes and its own set of resources. The only linkage the NFS management team in India had with the NYB management team was Aditya. Given that NFS was owned by NYB, Aditya had strategic oversight on the company. However, the day-to-day operations of the company were run completely independent of NYB.

The company had its head office in the busy Goregaon area of Mumbai. Spread over five floors, the impressive office had over four hundred people working in it.

10 a.m. in the morning. Gowri Shankar walked into the reception area of NFS. The guard stood up as if he was pricked from behind and gave him an energetic salute. He ignored the guard and briskly walked up to his second floor office. A smirk on his face, a swagger in his walk. This was clearly his fiefdom. He was the undisputed king there, and it was pretty evident.

He walked into his cabin, placed the laptop on the table, connected it to the LAN and powered it on. Just when he was about to start working, there was a knock on the cabin door. It was the pantry boy. The guard had informed the pantry about Gowri sir’s arrival and the tea had been instantaneously dispatched.

‘
Aaja! Aaja
!’ Gowri looked at the pantry guy and waved him in. ‘
Thodi der kardi aaj,
’ said Gowri, implying that the tea had come in a bit late. The pantry boy looked up nervously, mumbled something and left the tea on Gowri’s table before disappearing quickly. This was Gowri’s style. Put the opposition under pressure, even if there is no need to. The tea had come within 120 seconds of him entering his room, despite which he had to comment on the delay.

He picked up his tea and walked across the adjacent cabins to the cabin of Manish Kakkar, the credit director of NFS. Manish was a close friend and confidante of Gowri. After fifteen minutes of gossip, which centred around condemnation of NYB, and glorification of NFS, Gowri headed back to his room, en route checking if there were others who subscribed to his view about NYB.

There was a background to this. Twelve months ago, NYB in India had made a strategic acquisition. In a coup of sorts they had acquired a Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) which they later christened as NYB Financial Services.

Gowri, Manish and others were a part of the acquired finance company. It was normal for employees of the acquired company to be apprehensive about the acquirers, who are normally looked upon as predators. Gowri and Manish amongst others carried a grudge against NYB for having acquired what they felt was ‘their’ company.