If God Was A Banker (26 page)

Besides the above, there were seven other heads under which Mona wanted information. The gossip was that she was a member of the Tedd Bridge coterie, and so no one screwed around with her. She always got what she wanted.

'Why last three years?' Karuna wondered. 'Maybe the last audit happened three years ago,' she told herself as she walked into Abhinav's room.

Ten minutes later she was back in Ekta's room. She looked at Mona and said, 'Abhinav said that he would be able to give you all the required information by this evening, except for the performance appraisal reports. That he would be able to get only by tomorrow night. They are stored at an offsite location and it will take some time to get them photocopied and brought here. Will that be fine?'

'Where is the storage for the bank?'

'In Thane. It is about an hour's drive from where we are.'

'Then tell him not to worry about photocopying them. I will go to the storage tomorrow evening and see the reports there. I don't need to see all of them. I might actually end up seeing only a few of them. Just get me the individual performance ratings by tonight.'

'I think that should be doable,' said Ekta.

'The first lot of data should be in by the time you head back after your lunch with Ekta,' Karuna told Mona.

'Ekta, are you fine if I also invite a couple of guys from Swami's team for lunch? I would like to spend some time with them too.'

Lunch was at the Grand Hyatt hotel, which was just two blocks away. Reena had reserved a poolside table for them. It was a quarter to one and the restaurant had just started filling in. In fact, they were the first ones to walk in for lunch.

'So Akshay, I am told that the mortgage business in India is booming.'

'Yes Mona, the housing industry boom in India is just about taking off. There is expected to be an unfulfilled demand for housing to the extent of twenty million units by 2010. Prices are expected to go up and so will the demand. This will translate to increase in credit. Mortgage is expected to drive the growth of retail credit in India.'

'That's great. India is an exciting market. I am glad I got an opportunity to come to India. Have you all ever been to the States?'

'What does she think? We all are suckers, who have been cocooned in our own country? Bloody descendants of Christopher Columbus who set out in boats fitted with ancient fishing nets, to fish and eat when food runs out? Got marooned in America, when they set out to find India!' thought Akshay, but he didn't say that. 'Of course. We have had the privilege of visiting the US a few times. It's indeed a wonderful country.' Now he was truly behaving like a sucker.

This discussion lasted for over an hour. Then Mona asked Ekta, 'How do you feel working with these guys? I mean do you ever feel threatened, intimidated by these guys.'

'No. Not at all. Akshay's a sweetheart and Vivek is a gem,' said Ekta. 'But why do you ask?'

'You have been very quiet throughout this lunch. That got me wondering.' Mona grinned.

Ekta knew that she was lying. There was something she was up to and she was not telling. She knew that her question was a loaded one. There was something more to it than general curiosity. What did the next five days have in store for all of them?

As committed, the data was waiting when they returned from lunch.

The gender mix in the Indian operations of New York International Bank was very good. About thirty-two percent of its employees across all businesses were women. That compared very well with New York International Bank's global average of 24.6 percent. This ratio dropped dramatically at senior levels where only eight percent of the India leadership team and their direct reports were women. A large population of women worked in BOCA and in the Branches. Indian women seemed to love the service sector.

'Do women normally prefer softer jobs in India?' She looked at Karuna.

'Pardon me.' Karuna didn't understand the question.

'I do not see too many women working in cards sales, asset sales, front line jobs, leadership positions, etc. Is it a cultural issue in India or does it reflect on the approach that we as a bank have?'

'I guess it's more cultural. Women in India normally prefer desk jobs. They at times lack the opportunity and the drive to go ahead in their careers. Family pressures, an archaic male dominated society lead to a number of women giving up their careers for the sake of their families. But all that is changing now. We have role models in people like Naina Lai Kidwai.'

'Yes, I have heard about her.'

'She is the CEO of HSBC in India and is also on the global board of Nestle. One of the fifty most powerful women in the corporate world globally. Wish she was working with us and not with competition. You have a number of women rising to the forefront. They have learnt to manage the travails of a corporate life along with their families. They still have to face a lot of challenges at the workplace, but things are improving,' Karuna continued.

'What kind of challenges?' Mona was enjoying this discussion. This was the kind of discussion that would normally lead to exposures.

'India is an evolving society. It is a culture where brazen adaptation of the Wild West is looked down upon. Women are still expected to get married early and raise a family. Men and women are not equal. Why outside, within our organisation, do we treat men and women as equals? We don't.'

'But we intend to,' said Mona.

'So many times women lose out on senior positions because someone senior says, "Forget it, she is married and she will not be able to give it her best." Or "She will not be able to travel to the extent we want her to and so she will not be able to deliver." We have created a glass ceiling that is very difficult for any woman to break out of. How many women are there in our own management committee? Have we checked how much time it takes for a male to get there and how much time it takes for a woman with equal capability to get there? Women normally compromise and keep quiet, because if they make a noise, it may adversely impact them.'

'You seem to feel very, very strongly about it. Have you been wronged ever in this organisation personally?'

'No. No... Not at all,' she said, trying not to look at Mona.

Mona didn't push it. She didn't want to make it uncomfortable for Karuna. But Mona could guess something was wrong.

She went back to her data to begin her analysis.

'Karuna,' she called out after some time. 'What are you doing tonight? Free for dinner?'

'I have a nine-month-old baby. Don't have help at home. Don't think I will be able to come.'

'Not a problem, Karuna.'

'Hold on, I have a solution. The hotel where you are staying is very close to my house. Why don't you come home for dinner? I will ask Nitin to pick you up.'

'Nitin?'

'Oh. Forgot to tell you. Nitin is my husband. He also works for this bank. He heads personal loans for western India. Just got moved up recently.'

'That's great. I'll see you tonight then. I normally hit the bed early. Hence a dinner at seven-thirty or thereabouts would be great.'

'Sure, Mona. I will check with Nitin if he's free to pick you up. Else I'll give directions to your driver and he will bring you there.'

'See you at seven-thirty.'

The rest of the day was uneventful. Mona spent most of her time closeted in her room, analysing the data that had been provided to her. The India management had been quite cooperative and had given her whatever she had wanted.

Towards the end of the day she walked into Swami's office. 'Swami, I am sorry about this morning. I was probably a bit curt and rude. I shouldn't have been. Actually most of the work I do is so negative that a bit of it rubs off on my normal behaviour as well. One starts suspecting each and every individual. I am really sorry.'

'You are embarrassing me, Ms Albance.' Swami was indeed embarrassed.

'I have heard so much about you from Chetan Bindra. I was actually looking forward to meeting you, Swami.'

At that precise moment, Kalpana walked in.

'Come Kalpana, let me introduce you to Mona.'

'Of course, I know Mona. We have met when I was working for the New York HR compliance team. You ran the company that carried out various employee vigilance activities for us.'

'Oh my god, yes. How nice to see you again!'

'I knew someone was coming to India from the New York team, but I didn't know it was you.' Swami and Kalpana rarely discussed work at home and hence Kalpana didn't really know who was coming.

'And what on earth made you to shift from New York to Mumbai?'

'Well, this gentleman in front of you. He moved to India and I had to shift with him... given that I am married to him.' Kalpana's radiant smile flashed on her face.

'How nice! I didn't know of this connection. How does it feel to be husband and wife working in the same organisation?'

'Not great. But with him around as Head of Retail Bank, no one else will hire me. I have seen Swami running around in circles, trying his best to accommodate an extremely good and efficient person whose spouse left us to join at a senior position in ABN AMRO. Not everyone will be so accommodative. You know, Mona, I quit the bank over ten years ago when we got married, because I didn't want the two of us to work in the same organisation. But now, I have joined back. Thank god, we have a rule which states that related people can't report to each other. Otherwise, imagine, he would be my boss in office too,' joked Kalpana. All three had a hearty laugh at this. Mona now felt a lot more comfortable with both Swami and Kalpana.

'Kalpana, why don't you join me for dinner tonight? Karuna has called me for dinner. You also join me. I am told the place is close to the hotel where I stay. If it is convenient to you, that is,' she said looking at Kalpana. 'But, Swami, you stay out of this.'

Kalpana looked at Swami first, then at Mona, and nodded her head.

'Great, then we will leave from here at around half past six,' said Mona as she walked out of the room.

'Sweet girl,' said Kalpana looking at Swami.

'I am a bit worried. Just be careful about what you tell her,' said Swami.

T
he doorbell at Karuna's house rang at 7.30 p.m. Mona walked in with a nice little bouquet of flowers. Karuna was surprised to see Kalpana with her. Ekta was already there waiting for them in the living room.

Karuna had invited people from various units of the bank. There were a few people each from the branch banking side, the assets side and the customer service side, and some from BOCA as well. There were about twenty people in her small, warm, tastefully-done house.

The living room was a wee bit tiny for so many people. Mona didn't mind it though. The powerful AC in the corner of the room made it less stuffy.

Mona met Nitin, who seemed to be a nice young lad. He seemed energetic and capable. 'Nice couple,' she thought when she saw Nitin and Karuna together.

The food was good. It was a mix of continental and Indian fare. Ekta had told Karuna to get the best food and not to worry about the expenses as the bank would pick up the tab.

Mona also noticed that Kalpana was very gentle and nice with everyone. She mixed around well without really throwing her weight around. She had no airs about being the wife of the Head of Retail Banking. People were not running away from her. In all, a balanced personality.

When they were all sitting around after dinner Mona suddenly announced: 'We will now play a quick game.' The room went quiet.

'I will give you two minutes before we start. Go get your next round of refills, bio breaks, anything you want, before we begin. The game goes as follows. Starting with Nitin, I will ask everyone one question. The question may or may not be different from what I have asked anyone earlier. You will in one word, I repeat, in one word, give me an answer. If you use more than one word, you will be out of the game. If you do not answer in five seconds, you will be disqualified. Do not bluff, because I reserve the right to ask you to elaborate why you chose the word that you uttered. So two minutes from now we start this game.' No one moved.

'Okay, here we go. Nitin, what's the best thing you like about your wife?'

'Eyes.'

'Ooooohh...' A moan went round the room and Karuna blushed.

'Kalpana. Your question. What do you find in Swami that you don't find in men around?'

'Honesty.'

A round of applause, and Kalpana felt proud that she was married to such a man. She coyly smiled when she remembered how she had proposed to him on the beach and how clumsily he had behaved.

'Ekta, your question now. What do you hate in your husband?'

'Pony-tail,' and everyone burst out laughing.

'Priya, your turn. One word which would describe how the bank has changed in the past two years.'

'Safer.'

There was silence. For a moment even Mona was quiet. She didn't know how to react.

'Arvind, you are next. Why did you join NYB?'

'Money.'

'Romil, what will make you leave your wife?'

'You.'

'Ooooooooh...' The room went in raptures again. Romil was the head of collections for NYB. Collecting from delinquent customers makes you a tough guy. This hint of romanticism was something one would never have expected from Romil.

'Well said.' Mona was also beginning to enjoy this visit.

This went on for another twenty minutes before she decided to call it quits. It was already approaching ten, well past her bedtime. It was a fifteen-minute drive through the streets of Mumbai before she could get into bed.

She had enjoyed the evening thoroughly, but one thing was bothering her. Normally in other countries wherever she had used this Quick Answer Game, or QAG as it was called, she had got very innovative answers. For 'what has changed in the bank in the last two years,' she would get words like aggressive, hunger, drive, motivation, empathy, perception, pay, etc. Never had she got 'SAFER' as an answer.

QAG normally reflected the mindset of the individual. Given that people did not have time to react, the answers were normally top of mind, and hence most people would subconsciously answer what they felt most strongly about. Five seconds was not time enough for people to cook up their response, and so, unless they were masters at the art of deception, people would not lie.