If God Was A Banker

by Ravi Subramanian

  Naresh had already set up a large team for selling home loans for NYB. 'Yaar Srivastava, chaar mahine ho gaye. Kuch aur karte hain. Aisa kuch karte hain ki mazaa aa jaave.' Naresh was bored and was looking for something more exciting. 'Mera ek call centre khulva de.' Naresh wanted to set up a call centre for New York International Bank and explained the entire deal to Sundeep.

  'Look Sundeep, I will invest in this call centre. You give me the business. I will manage the complete customer service for New York International Bank in India.' At that time there was no concept of phone banking in India. Even the now-thriving BPO industry had not reared its head. Naresh was smart. He knew how to get his work done. He knew that Sundeep could swing the deal for him.

  When Sundeep started thinking, Reshma came back with the tea. Sundeep's thinking went for a toss. Then Naresh threw in the sweetener. 'I will run the call centre on paper, but we will actually own it.' Sundeep looked at him questioningly.

  'Yes,' continued Naresh, 'it will be a sixty-forty partnership between us. Sixty mine and forty yours.' After a pause he said, 'Think how many Reshmas we can hire in the call centre. Everyday, someone new to fuck.'

  Sundeep didn't react. Naresh knew he had won.

  Naresh dropped Sundeep off at the hotel after dinner. Sundeep went up to his room and had a quick shower. He was sipping his whisky when the doorbell rang. He jumped to open the door. He was pleasantly surprised. At the door were Reshma and Monica. One look at them, and Sundeep was immediately aroused.

  'Sir, I came to give a handover to Reshma,' said Monica, as she ran her fingers teasingly over Sundeep's dick. The door banged shut and the Do Not Disturb sign came up. Reshma was even better than Monica, and, for the first time in his life, Sundeep fucked two women in a single night.

  Naresh had got his call centre and Sundeep his double fuck.

  34

  New York

  Louisa was back in Sundeep's room. 'Mr Srivastava, your wife on the line. Should I tell her that you will call her back?'

  'I will take it,' said Sundeep.

  He had been thinking of his life ever since he became a banker. Even though the incidents were more than a decade old, they came back in front of his eyes, as if they had taken place only yesterday.

  'Hi Natasha. How was the zoo, sweetheart?' asked Sundeep.

  'The kids loved it. Though I was a little bored,' she said. 'Now they want to go to the dome for a movie. Just got a couple of minutes. Thought I would call you. Louisa told me that you were not feeling too well.'

  'No, I'm fine. Just feeling a bit tired. That's all,' he lied.

  'Why don't you come home early? We will ditch the movie,' said Natasha. 'I must tell you, your secy is taking good care of you, eh.'

  'No sweetheart. You know...' Natasha quickly interrupted him, 'No honey, I was just kidding. You are the most caring husband anyone can ever get. I have no complaints. Even if Louisa is up to something, I am sure, I can trust you.' Natasha's words pierced Sundeep's heart.

  'Wait till she gets to know everything,' something inside spoke to him.

  'I will see you in the evening, babe.' He blew a kiss over the phone and disconnected.

  How could he possibly tell her what he had already done with his career?

  35

  Sundeep was just leaving for a review when the phone rang. 'Kya kar raha hoi, yaar. You haven't come to Calcutta for over two weeks now. My secretary keeps asking me about you? Here, talk to her.' Naresh gave Reshma the phone.

  'Sir, what happened? Monica told me that you came to Calcutta every week to see her. You do not like me?' Reshma asked him in her trademark seductive tone.

  'I will be there this week,' said Sundeep.

  He kept his promise. Naresh's limousine picked him up from the airport and took him straight to his den. Naresh came down from his office to meet him. Then they went to Naresh's house for lunch.

  The lecherous Naresh kept talking about his secretaries and the fun he had with them.

  'Sundeep, please change your hiring policy. The way your team hires is painful,' said Naresh.

  'Why, what happened now?' asked Sundeep. 'Did any of my sales guys managing your teams screw up.'

  'No, yaar. Your problem is that you only look at motivating your sales guys. What about my motivation? Shouldn't you be looking at that too? I must also feel happy to meet your sales managers. Today none of your managers fits the T & A criteria.'

  'T & A criteria?' Sundeep didn't understand what he meant.

  'Don't know T & A criteria, tits and ass, my friend. Basics in life. If they don't meet that criteria, then you should not hire them, irrespective of how good they are.'

  Sundeep burst out laughing.

  All this was supposedly in jest. However, Sundeep's hiring criteria did change after this. T & A criteria was informally applied to every candidate he met.

  Interactions with Naresh had started shaping his behaviour. Slowly but surely Naresh was becoming an integral part of Sundeep's bank. He had grown so big that seventy percent of the business in eastern India for New York International Bank was originated by Naresh's team.

  The Naresh factor had begun to impact Sundeep's personal life. He was spending less time with Natasha. He had started neglecting her. Natasha found emotional support in Swami and Kalpana.

  Naresh also had a great relationship with Suneel. With secretaries like Monica, relationships were not difficult to build. Sundeep used Naresh smartly for insights into Suneel. Naresh fed him all the relevant information. If Suneel said anything good about Sundeep, he would get to know. If Suneel had a negative view on anything, Sundeep would know. This helped him to quickly fix any perception issues with his boss. Riding on Naresh, Sundeep's equation with Suneel was on a high.

  It suited Naresh too. Sundeep was constantly reminded of the fact that Naresh knew his boss better than he did. If he didn't take care of Naresh, his career with NYB had no chance of taking off. Obviously, Suneel had Naresh's ear more than Sundeep had.

  Business was growing. Perceptions were great. Career was galloping. Things were going fine. Till one day...

  On that day Sundeep had come to Calcutta on one of his many Naresh trips. After a hectic day at work, Naresh dropped him to his hotel. Back in his room, he showered and as usual waited for Naresh's secy. This time it was Linda, a hot babe in her early twenties. Reshma too was with her, supposedly to give a 'handover' to Linda.

  The next six hours were full of moaning and groaning. Sundeep spent the whole night in bed with the two women, having the time of his life.

  It was five in the morning when Sundeep opened his eyes. Linda and Reshma had just got up and were wearing their clothes. He looked at Linda, stretched out his hand and pulled her down on the bed. After twenty more minutes of ecstasy, Linda wore her clothes again and prepared to leave.

  Sundeep followed them to the door to see them off. It was only half past five and since he was not going to step out of the room, he didn't feel it necessary to wear anything.

  'See you soon, sir. You were great,' said Linda and walked out into the corridor with Reshma. Sundeep's ego swelled and he blew them a kiss. They turned and blew a kiss back at him.

  As the two women were leaving, someone walked past Sundeep's room. While they were giggling and blowing kisses at Sundeep, who was standing nude at the door, this individual looked back in exasperation. He saw the two giggly women and beyond them, a naked Sundeep peeping out from behind the door. His heart sank. A few wrinkles of concern appeared on his forehead for an instant. He just turned and walked away without saying anything.

  Sundeep saw him and froze. He couldn't move. It was as if he was paralysed. Standing there in the corridor beyond the two raunch queens was someone whom Sundeep in his wildest of dreams wouldn't have imagined to be there. The door hardly did anything to conceal Sundeep's nudity. He stood there completely exposed. As he shut the door, he could see that he was shivering. The AC in the room showed twenty-four degrees.

  Sundeep was bo
oked on the 1.00 p.m. Jet Airways flight from Calcutta to Mumbai. He was initially scheduled to go back the previous night, but when Naresh told him about Linda, he had decided to stay back.

  When he stepped into the flight, there was only one other passenger in Business Class. Being an afternoon flight, it was fairly light. When the captain announced for the doors to be armed for takeoff, there were still only two passengers. Sundeep was a worried man. He kept looking nervously at the other passenger from the corner of his eyes. But that guy was only interested in the scenery outside.

  Sundeep waited for a few minutes after take off, but couldn't bear it any longer. He unbuckled his seat belt and walked up to the other passenger, who had his eyes trained on a fixed spot on the window. He stood there for a moment, but the other guy didn't even look at him. Sundeep placed his hand on the other man's shoulder.

  'How long has this being going on?' asked Swami without even bothering to look at Sundeep.

  'Three months.'

  There was a prolonged silence at Swami's end.

  'What are you going to do now?' asked a worried Sundeep. There was not a trace of guilt on his face. He just didn't want to be exposed, that's all.

  'The easiest thing for me to do is to tell Natasha. But I won't. Not because you are my friend and I want to protect you, but because Kalpana and I adore her. She will be shattered if we tell her about this, particularly after what she has gone through.' Sundeep didn't understand the last bit. Swami was referring to the problems Natasha had had with Suneel Dutt. Sundeep just nodded.

  'I will not tell Natasha anything. Relax, Sundeep. But I need to know the complete story.' Swami wanted to get to the bottom of this.

  Swami could never have imagined this side of Sundeep's character. That morning Swami had set out for an early morning walk, when he became an inadvertent witness to Sundeep's escapades. How he wished that he hadn't seen that. But can you rewind your life? He thought about Natasha. What did she do to deserve this? She was such a sweetheart. She had already gone through so much trauma and, on top of that, if she got to know of this, she would surely be shattered. He will not tell Natasha anything about what he saw. Not even to Kalpana, he promised himself.

  'I want the complete story, Sundeep. No short cuts.'

  Sundeep told him the story, from the time Suneel asked him to meet Naresh, to his escapades with his secretaries, and the call centre deal. Swami was appalled. How could someone like Sundeep fall a prey to all this?

  Sundeep hadn't told him about the financial benefits accruing to him. Swami didn't need to know.

  'Sundeep, I will not tell Natasha, but under one condition.'

  Sundeep nodded. Anything was acceptable to him to prevent his exposure.

  'All this has to stop from this very instant. If I get to hear anything like this again, I will leave no stone unturned to get you completely exposed, despite you being my friend.'

  'Trust me, Swami,' said Sundeep, trying to suppress his glee. He had succeeded in managing Swami. Not for a second was Sundeep ashamed of what he had done.

  'And you will be loyal to Natasha throughout your life.'

  'Hmm.' Sundeep nodded his acceptance.

  'This congestion at the Mumbai airport in mid-afternoon is utter madness. I will have to tolerate Swami's sermon for at least another fifteen minutes,' thought Sundeep after the pilot announced that they were twelfth in the landing sequence.

  Finally, when they landed and came out of the airport, Swami warned Sundeep for one last time and walked out to a waiting car. Back at home, Kalpana wondered what had gone wrong. Why did Swami come back so soon? This was not normal.

  'Swami. What happened?' she asked him the moment she saw him at the door.

  'Nothing. I was just feeling a bit unwell.' The moment Swami said this, Kalpana knew that he was lying. She did not push him because she trusted him and knew that he would not hide anything important from her.

  That morning a desperate Sundeep had tried to call Naresh from his hotel room. Naresh was not at home. He had, in fact, not returned the previous night. In those days, there were no mobile phones and so Sundeep had no means of getting in touch with him.

  Naresh called back in the evening, after over a dozen calls from Sundeep.

  'What happened,' asked Naresh, 'you don't sound too good.' He knew, from the number of messages he had got, that something was not right.

  When Sundeep told him about the incident, Naresh laughed it away. 'Is that all? You should have sounded off Reshma. She would have managed Swami on the spot. You are selfish, Sundeep. If I was you, I would have sent either Linda or Reshma to him. Mil baant ke khaana chahiye.' Naresh was telling him that he should have sent one of the sirens to Swami to buy his silence.

  'No Ram. You don't know Swami. Gandhi ka chela hai. If there was a competition for the guy who is closest to Mahatma Gandhi, Swami will beat the Mahatma himself hands down.'

  'There's not a guy in this bank who I can't manage,' boasted Naresh. 'Linda and Reshma are wonderful my friend.'

  'You haven't dealt with Swami yet.'

  'Are you worried?'

  'I am not worried about today. I have somehow managed it. The concern is that he will be a constant nuisance from now on. He will always be on my trail. He and his wife are both very close to Natasha.'

  'Toh uska koi jugad kar dete hai. Tu shanti rakh.' Naresh promised to find a way to deal with Swami.

  'Don't harm him. Just get him out of our way,' said Sundeep and hung up.

  Naresh didn't like bankers that didn't toe his line. This was not the first time. He had dealt successfully with a lot of bankers like Swami in the past. Just as he had made people's careers at New York International Bank, he had also screwed up careers of those who didn't fall in line.

  Swami was about to witness the power of Naresh.

  36

  A couple of weeks later Swami and Kalpana went off for their annual vacation. A long awaited vacation for both of them. Kalpana had invited Sundeep and Natasha to join them, but Sundeep declined, stating some pressing work issues and reviews with Suneel. Swami suspected that Naresh was behind this, but didn't say a word.

  Swami and Kalpana took a KLM flight via Amsterdam to reach Barcelona. They went on a weeklong cruise from Barcelona. The cruise took them deep into the Mediterranean. They visited the islands of Palma de Majorca, and Corsica. Corsica was the island where Napoleon de Bonaparte was born.

  This was their first vacation after their honeymoon in Kodai. Kalpana had pestered Swami till he gave her the dates and the budget for the vacation. She had organised it entirely on her own.

  Swami had taken an overseas vacation for the first time and was very excited about it. By the time the cruise docked back in Barcelona after a week, it had transported the couple into a very different world that they didn't want to come back from.

  When the flight from Amsterdam landed in Mumbai at 2.00 a.m., they didn't feel like getting off the aircraft. The moment they set their foot back on Mumbai soil, it would signal the end of their vacation. Kalpana knew that the next vacation would have to wait for at least another eighteen months. They dragged themselves out of the aircraft and came back home, collecting their luggage on the way out.

  The next morning Kalpana called Natasha to tell her all about the trip.

  'I wish I had gone with you folks. Anyway, Sundeep was in Calcutta all the while,' said Natasha. Then she asked for Swami.

  'Swami, Roger was trying to get in touch with you. I told him that you were holidaying in Europe. He has asked you to call him the moment you get back.' Roger, an expat, was Swami's immediate supervisor.

  'Anything urgent?' asked Swami.

  'Nothing that I am aware of. I asked the others in your team and they too didn't know. But no less than four times last week has Roger asked me to remind you,' said Natasha.

  'Should I call him today?' It was a Sunday.

  'I think it can wait till tomorrow morning. Just be prepared then. My intention was not to make you
nervous. I just wanted to let you know.'

  'Thanks Natasha. How is Sundeep?'

  'He is still sleeping like a log.'

  'OK. I will let him be. Let's chat tomorrow morning in office,' said Swami and hung up. He was wondering what the issue could be?

  37

  Monday morning, Swami was in office very early. His first day at work after three weeks. More than four hundred unread mails had piled up in his mailbox.

  He was wondering why Roger so desperately wanted to meet him. By the time everyone got into office, he had read each and every mail, but except for a mail from Rogers asking him to come and see him whenever he returns from vacation, there was nothing in the mails to suggest any cause for concern.

  Rogers normally came in at around ten. Natasha told Swami at around eleven that Roger wanted to see him. Swami accompanied her back to Roger's cabin.

  The meeting with Roger lasted over an hour and half. Natasha could see the proceedings from her workstation, through the glass partition that separated her from Roger's room. However, she couldn't hear anything as Roger's cabin was sound-proof and the door was shut. But she could see that Roger did most of the talking. Swami was mostly sitting quiet, rarely opening his mouth. 'What's going on?' she wondered.

  Two rounds of coffee were sent in. After the first two calls that she transferred to Roger, she was asked to put all calls on hold. There was no doubt now that the discussion going on inside was extremely serious. 'Has Swami screwed up something very badly? Is he going to lose his job?' Natasha began worrying for swami.

  After about ninety minutes, a beaming Swami emerged from Roger's room.

  'What happened?' Natasha whispered. She did not want Roger to think that she was indulging in gossip with his direct reports.

  'Later.' Swami kept up the suspense.