Devil in Pinstripes

by Ravi Subramanian

  ‘Prabhat, give us five minutes.’

  After Prabhat left, he turned towards Moses.

  ‘If I go, you go with me . . . I have enough aces under my sleeve and you very well know that. In my line Aditya, we have to protect ourselves from “everyone”. External scavengers and internal preys. If something comes upon me, you know what I will do. I have enough evidence on various matters to nail you and the organisation.’ Moses had never spoken like this with anyone in the organisation, but today was different. He was battling for survival.

  ‘Relax Moses,’ said Aditya. He had to make a decision quickly and tactfully. It was a tricky situation. He walked up to the phone and dialled a number. After a few minutes, he kept the receiver down, looked at Moses and smiled. A few seconds later, his fingers worked on the phone and dialled another number. While he was speaking, Moses had walked up to the printer and had picked up a piece of paper. When Aditya was into his second conversation, Moses picked up a pen from Aditya’s table and began writing something on the paper.

  After Aditya put the phone down, he walked up to the door and called in Prabhat. When the latter walked in, he looked at Moses, who extended one hand towards him. In the hand was a piece of paper.

  Prabhat took that paper from him and glanced at it. He began reading it.

  To

  The HR Manager

  NYB

  Dear Sir,

  I herewith submit my resignation from……………

  …. Sd/

  G. Moses

  He did not read beyond the first line. It was not necessary. How the hell did Aditya manage it? It had taken Aditya all of fifteen minutes to get this done.

  Aditya called Martin Stone, minutes after the meeting to tell him that in response to the issue highlighted on the front page article in the WSJ, the head of collections in India had been fired.

  Moses’ resignation from the organisation was announced the next morning. It was so sudden and unexpected that it took everyone by surprise. His last working day was Friday, which was only three days away. When the mail hit his inbox, Amit knew why this had happened. ‘This is corporate life,’ he said to himself. ‘You pay for someone else’s sins.’ He forwarded the mail to Chanda in SCB. The subject of the mail was ‘It sucks’.

  The week after, Moses joined Great Western International Bank as country head of collections. No one knew what transpired behind the scenes. Amit knew that the head of retail banking, at Great Western International Bank, Kaushal Pandey, was a close friend of Aditya Bhatnagar. He was an ex-NYBanker and owed his career to Aditya. Aditya had demanded his pound of flesh from him, and Kaushal had willingly obliged.

  ___________________________

  * In foreign bank parlance, a town-hall meeting is an informal gathering of employees, (a term derived from the traditional town meetings of New England) where the management addresses the staff on issues which are relevant. Key messages are passed down the line. The staff is given the opportunity to voice views and concerns which are then addressed by the management.

  20 December 2007

  Bandra Police Station

  Mumbai

  The wait at the station was becoming unduly long. Naik too seemed to have disappeared eons ago. Looked like he had forgotten that there were souls waiting for him on the bench. The two men who had come in with him, also disappeared into the room, that seemed like a black hole. People only went in. No one came out.

  Amit was getting more and more fidgety. He had a family to provide for. A reputation to protect. Not many knew that he was now struggling to deliver on either of the two. Family life was hurtling towards disaster and his reputation was now rolling downhill at a feverish pitch. He was clearly at his wit’s end.

  The reason for this arrest had not been mentioned to him yet. Though the Non-Bailable Arrest Warrant mentioned that it was being issued in response to an FIR filed with the police, the case details were missing. He couldn’t figure out what the problem was. Had he known, he could have acted and taken preventive steps. But unluckily that was not to be.

  Chanda was also getting worried. She had been married to him for long, and had been through many ups and downs. Recently there had been more downs than ups, but she still held on to their relationship by the last string of the thread. However, she had clearly not bargained for this. What had he done to deserve this? Had Amit done something which would deal a death knell to their relationship? She couldn’t say.

  Both of them were so lost in their thoughts that they completely missed Naik, who had walked out of the black hole room and had come right in front of them.

  A hand on his shoulder made Amit look up.

  ‘Naik, what is the problem?’ he asked in a pleading voice. He had never been so helpless. Always in control, this situation was quite alien to him. He shifted his glance to Chanda who was also looking at Naik.

  The look on his face was not a confidence-building one. ‘We will wait outside,’ the two lawyers in black coats told Naik as they stepped outside.

  ‘It’s not looking good Amit,’ Naik’s words belied his expression. It gave no encouragement to either Amit or Chanda.

  ‘We have a situation, and we have no clue how to deal with it. We need to get the legal guys involved.’

  ‘But you mentioned that you had taped up Pathak.’

  ‘Yes we had, but when I called him now, he claimed that he was unaware that this was the case. It is out of his jurisdiction.’

  ‘What does he mean? He owes it to us. We have taken care of him so many times in the past.’

  ‘I don’t think so Amit. The case is such. Even he can’t do much.’

  ‘Why is it such a big deal? Who can help?’

  ‘No one.’ This answer left Amit looking at him with his mouth wide open. He was shocked. His eyes were wide open and he was looking alternately at Chanda and Naik as if imploring them to do something.

  ‘Naik,’ he said finally. ‘Will someone honestly tell me what the fucking issue is?’

  1997- Early 2001

  Mumbai

  The next three years for Amit were normal. Being sighted quickly as a high potential resource by the senior management helped him. Aditya pulled him up from a relationship manager and made him the manager of a small branch in Mumbai. He was now the youngest branch manager at NYB.

  Chanda on the other hand, was going through a torrid time. The shifts and the daily rosters were taking a toll on her. She was finding it difficult to manage. One day she would leave home at 5.30 a.m. to be at work by 6 a.m. and the next day she would leave at 2 p.m. only to come back at 11 p.m. The lack of predictability around work hours made it very difficult for her. She also had to take her weekly offs on days other than weekends and that led to her spending less and less time with Amit.

  On days that they would be together, she would pour her heart out to Amit. Working in the banking industry was her decision. She was not the kinds who would give it all up at the first signs of stress. A fair chance is all that she wanted to give to SCB. However, no one could prevent her from being a touch worried that it was eating into her family time and the shifts were not making it any easier.

  And then it happened. The big day that Chanda was waiting for finally happened. On 26 October 1999, three years into her job, she got her first promotion. She moved from being a phone banking executive to a supervisor in the tele-banking team. She had a team of her own and was now the boss of twenty-two people. Boy! Was she thrilled? The change in the money was not significant; however, the promotion meant a lot to her. More than a professional move forward . . . there was an even bigger motivation. She was off shifts. A supervisory role meant the return of some stability in their lives.

  ‘Gosh, now I will have to see you on weekends. I was beginning to enjoy my Saturdays without you.’ Amit teased her when he heard that the supervisory role meant getting off shifts. But heart of hearts he too was thrilled. Their life could get back on track now.

  The late 90s extending into 2001, was
the period when a consolidation happened in the Indian banking industry. A number of foreign banks entered the Indian market and quite a few exited the scene as well.

  ABN Amro Bank bought over Bank of America’s retail business, Standard Chartered bought over ANZ Grindlays Bank, and BNP Paribas decided to exit the retail banking space. There were many such examples. It was a time of turmoil and consolidation in the banking industry. Turmoil for some and opportunity for the others.

  Amit was at that stage in his career when opportunities were aplenty. Being a fast achiever, he had built a reputation in the industry too. He was quite happy working with New York International Bank, so happy that the thought of a career shift didn’t occur to him at all. While people thought it was time to encash the equity that he had built up for himself in the banking industry, Amit’s thoughts were far from theirs. He considered himself to be a career NY Banker – someone who had spent his working life with NYB and wanted to spend the remainder of his career with NYB . . . or so he felt till this opportunity came his way.

  One day in early 2001, as Amit was driving to meet a client, he received a call on his mobile. It was a number he didn’t relate to. However, he picked it up on instinct. It could have been a customer in need.

  ‘Hi, am I speaking to Amit Sharma?’

  ‘Yes. Who is this?’

  ‘Hi Amit, this is Sharmila Ganguly from Spenta Consultants. I am calling from Delhi. Is it a good time to talk to you?’

  ‘Hmm,’ Amit was just wondering why they had called him. He hadn’t heard of them.

  ‘Amit, let me introduce ourselves. We are a leading recruitment consultancy firm in India and we specialise in the banking and financial services space. I had picked up your reference from our network quite some time back. There is an interesting position that has come up, which I thought I would run past you and see if you would be interested.’

  If Amit ever looked back at his life, this could be counted as one call that changed his life. After this call, his personal and professional life would never be the same again. It was one such moment, the gravity of which one doesn’t realise till such time that it’s long over and gone.

  Though he was not interested, he still had a distance to drive. He had some time at hand. Something in the woman’s tone told Amit that he needed to explore more. ‘No harm in talking,’ he thought. He continued.

  ‘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.