by Vish Dhamija
'You're right, but he's still going to be embarrassed.'
'Okay. Do we have anyone in his team who can take up his position as acting head of technology? Let me speak to Tony…' Serena picked up the phone and gestured Elena to stay put in her office.
***
The plan for the launch of the retail business was unconventional. Unlike other retailers or banks that inaugurate a single branch or franchise, Serena had convinced the board that they would go for three retail walk-in branches. The branches, with open-floor layouts, looked more like retail stores than offices. They had bought out spaces at a few gas stations for new ATM's, but largely purchased a local bank's ATM's and rebranded them. Serena's argument was that it made more sense to buy these rather than spend all the money for outdoor media on billboards, as this would make the brand presence felt overnight.
The August opening of the bank's retail business was more than just successful. Prime-time television and radio were booked for the advertising campaign broadcasting the launch with the PR machinery in place. To jazz up an otherwise boring banking activity, an art exhibition was organised in the retail premises to get consumers into the branches for the first time. The promotional offers on savings and current accounts, plus the rewards programme on credit cards were second to none in the market. Serena always believed that banks should behave like high-end retailers and not like the tellers they had been for centuries. She had seen to it that the consumer experience was equally upbeat by training the team not only in banking functions, but in retail discipline too. She was almost in tears when she thanked her team in the evening.
Local head-hunters started calling before the end of the day. The competition had been watching cynically right till the end. They had disbelieved the rumours of a retail bank going trendy. A bank, with no retail presence till now, had moved the bar higher. It was obvious that offers would start pouring in from existing retail banks in the city — given the small banking community — outbidding each other. Serena had expected the reaction, but not so quickly.
GK called to congratulate Serena early next morning. He had planned to be in Dubai for the launch, but had to change plans, last minute, to accommodate another meeting in America. He was on the way back and called from Heathrow before boarding for Dubai.
'Catch you in a few hours. Any plans for the evening?' he asked.
'No.'
'I would like to take you out for dinner.'
***
In the last seven months, Serena had lost touch with GK, primarily, because of her workload. She was conscious that she should have made an effort; GK would have expected emails or, at least, short telephone calls. He was in her office just after lunch and gave her a customary hug. 'Congratulations Serena,' he said loud enough for everyone in the office to hear. He had lost some weight and some more hair on his already balding head and he looked tired because of the long travel.
'Thanks, GK. Glad to see you again.'
'You completely forgot about me,' GK quipped.
'I am sorry. I was thinking the same. The work has kept me horribly busy, but now that the launch is behind me…' Serena explained apologetically. 'How's Stella?'
GK chose, for some reason, to ignore the pleasantry. 'Come on — show me the retail branches that I have been reading about in all the local dailies since my arrival,' he said.
'Okay.'
'This is incredible work, Serena,' GK commented, as they walked into the first branch. 'I think you should return and do some more good work with our retail branches in India. Got any job offers out here?' he asked.
'Lots…'
'Not taking them, I suppose. You work for one of the best banks in business today and should take a long-term view. We can always look at the grade and money when you return. Let's talk at dinner tonight.'
***
The Irish Village at Dubai Aviation Club is famous for its lively and vibrant atmosphere. It has convincingly simulated a setting of an Irish village with stores that sell traditional stuff like the Celtic crosses in stained glass or print. The whole courtyard is paved and it boasts a pond in the desert kingdom. Serena had been there once, and knew that it stocked Irish beer and cider, making it a big hit with the local Irish population who called it 'their Ireland' in Dubai. The music was live on some nights, but the food, however, was great every night. Sadly, tonight wasn't one of those live-band nights. It was late in the evening, well after sunset, and the cool breeze had set in when GK and Serena arrived. They chose to sit outside and ordered beer and food.
'Congratulations again,' GK started.
'Thank you.'
'What's your plan now? The launch is over. I am sure they would like to keep you for the expansion and I am willing to extend your stay, if you want. I cannot afford to lose you to the competition.' GK was candid.
'I am not even considering jumping ship at the moment.' Serena was frank too.
'Good. You will go a long way in this bank, I promise.'
'Thanks.'
'When do you want to return?'
'In a couple of months. I need to find a replacement for myself and hand over the portfolio.'
'Great.'
The beers had arrived.
'How's Stella?' Serena asked again, as she put the glass of beer down after a sip to light up a cigarette.
'We divorced,' GK said softly.
'What?' Serena almost choked for a moment.
'That's why I couldn't come to your launch; I was in New York for the final settlement. I found out Stella has been dating some guy in Mumbai for a few years now.'
'Who was she dating?' Serena was aghast.
'I don't know; I have never met him. He moved to New York about two years ago and they had been carrying on their affair whenever she went home. She had started doing longer trips more frequently, but I was so much involved in the work that I totally missed any clues. She finally decided to move in with him.'
'Unbelievable.'
'You're telling me.'
'Is he American?'
'No, Indian. He is much younger than her too. I am really sad, but I hope it works out for both of them.' GK was being magnanimous; he was clearly hurt. 'Another beer for you?'
'Yes.'
'That's all about me. How are you? Met anyone interesting here?' GK asked.
'Not yet.'
She hadn't lied; a one-night rendezvous could hardly be termed as meeting someone.
After dinner they ordered coffee. Serena felt sorry for GK — he was a nice guy who had sacrificed all his family and relatives by getting married, against their wishes, to an American. And, she had all too conveniently left him for another man.
'I am sorry,' Serena summoned all her courage to mutter.
'You don't have to be. I was the one who didn't have the faintest idea that my wife was in a relationship with someone else for over three years. I was a fool and this world is not made for idiots like me. Shit happens,' GK said with a shrug, controlling his emotions.
He left Dubai the next morning.
Mumbai
September 1998
In spite of all his hard and brilliant work, Senior Inspector Michael D'Cunha was still waiting for the promotion he deserved, and he had, now, got exhausted getting nowhere and accomplishing nothing. He raised the issue a few times with his superiors, but the bureaucracy, at its customary best, provided evasive responses; no concrete plans, reasons or dates.
He sat brooding over the infuriatingly slow bureaucracy of his establishment when he got called into his next investigation about a suicide in Worli. He picked up his cap, called for his driver and left immediately.
***
Dubai
The razzmatazz over, Serena got busy with work yet again; she also needed to find her replacement. They had to, eventually, hire externally, because there was a lack of talent with the required skill set; the new person came onboard in mid-September. The handover, the knowledge transfer, took another month without breaking for weekends before she a
nd her Dubai line-manager were confident the replacement hired could carry on the good work.
Without being aware of it, Serena realised she had collected a substantial amount of baggage to be carried back. It took her a week to wind up before saying good-bye to Dubai. It was mid-October before she boarded the flight to Mumbai.
14
Mumbai
October 1998
Serena arrived over the weekend to unpack and relax. Kim, good friend that she was, had organised the cleaning of the apartment, some groceries in the refrigerator and sent her friend's car for servicing with the driver. She had even arranged flowers to be sent there on Serena's arrival, as she was herself out of town for a shoot. She was no longer just an up and coming model, having just been signed by L'Oreal and Nokia.
Serena was early in the office on Monday morning. GK wasn't in yet so she met with her old team. Rohan, who had replaced her when she moved to Dubai, was still around; he was certain that she would be given greater responsibility, so there wasn't a risk to his job.
GK arrived after nine. 'Welcome home, Serena,' he said with loud aplomb.
'Thanks.' Serena walked beside him as he dashed towards his office. She exchanged greetings with Maria, while GK collected his mail from her desk.
'Any calls?' GK asked Maria.
'No.'
'Two strong coffees, and stop all calls unless they are absolutely necessary, please,' he told Maria, and politely gestured Serena towards his office.
The office had windows on two sides and a glass partition overlooking his secretary on the third. On his right side was the only wall and a large picture of Stella had adorned it for as long as Serena had known GK. The picture was missing now. The wallpaper around it had faded leaving a visible emptiness on the wall.
'Why don't you put something there, GK?' Serena asked as she entered.
'Give me a picture of yours.'
Maria brought in the coffees and left them on GK's desk. She walked out quietly closing the door behind her.
'You did a fantastic job in Dubai, Serena,' GK eulogised as he raised the cup of coffee as if it were a toast.
'Thanks.' Serena did the same before taking a sip.
'You're welcome.' He pulled out a paper from a stack on his desk and handed it over to Serena. 'You are now a vice president and a director. Congratulations.'
'Thank you, GK,' Serena said, taking the paper from his hand.
'Ordinarily, it does not happen this way in this organisation, but as you are no average person, the bank has decided to give you a choice of two assignments to decide between. One is to move into corporate banking as the head of the Western region. I know you were head of the regional retail before you left this place, but the corporate business is far bigger than retail in terms of revenue. It would give you an understanding of a new business, and groom you for your next move across corporate and retail banking. The other option is to head up the retail banking for the country, which is effectively my job.'
'What do you do then?'
'Sorry. I forgot to tell you, I have been promoted to business manager for the country, heading both retail and corporate banking,' he replied.
'Congratulations. That's really good.'
'Thank you. If you take the job of the retail head for the country, you report directly to me. On the other hand, in the regional corporate banking job you will report to Shiva, who is the head of corporate banking. I can assure you that within the next eighteen months Shiva will move up to make space for a good performer like you, so you needn't worry on those grounds.' GK stated it as if it were a matter of fact.
'What would you take, if you were me?' Serena asked the standard question most people ask their supervisors when in a quandary.
'In my mind, both of the jobs add value; one comes with a national responsibility and the other teaches more aspects of business. One makes you a specialist, the other broadens your experience,' GK answered, exactly, how supervisors respond to such questions: guarded but not evasive.
Serena sat silently.
'You don't have to decide right now,' he explained, seeing Serena in a dilemma. 'You can take a day or two, think about it, talk to people and let me know.'
'I think I know what I want...' Serena started.
'Take my job,' GK said as if he had read her mind.
'How did you guess?' Serena was surprised.
'Give me some credit, Serena, this wasn't a guess. I have known you for a long time now. That is precisely why I asked you for your picture for this wall.' GK smiled, pointing towards the empty space on his right.
'I was surprised you even offered me the choice then.'
'It's your career. The final choice should be yours,' GK summed up.
'You're right, GK. Thanks.'
'I would have allocated a month of transition for the new person in my role, but if you are taking it, it shouldn't take that long. I would start handing over the work to you from today and you should be up to speed before the end of the month. In any case, I am not moving out just moving to the next office, so I am around if you need me.' He arose from his desk and put his hand out. Serena got up and shook his hand. 'I wish you all the best, Serena. I am confident you will do it to the best of your ability,' he said confidently.
'I will.' Serena turned and opened the door to walk out of his office.
Serena was happy that the high-risk retail banking launch project in Dubai had got rewarded with a national responsibility. She loved retail banking, and a specialist was how she wanted to be referred to.
***
November 1998
Serena was meeting up with Kim after ten months. They had decided to spend the weekend together to catch-up, as it had been a long time.
'It feels so nice to see you again, darling,' Kim screamed and gave a big hug to Serena as she opened her apartment door. 'Almost a year without you in the city… let's party sweetheart.'
'Sure. How was your trip to Hong Kong?' Serena asked casually. 'How's Adi?'
'You still remember him? You know, he's a nice guy. He got me out of trouble once, I never told you about it,' Kim said, thinking of the time he had called to stop D'Cunha from harassing her. 'How about you… how was Dubai?
'Pity you couldn't make it while I was there. It is a heaven for shopping.'
'And also, I could see your Prince Charming…' Kim teased.
'Hardly...' Serena said as both of them walked to the bar to pour a drink.
'You mean you made out with someone who is less than a charming prince?'
'I meant, I just met him once; we were both drunk in the nightclub and it happened,' Serena clarified.
'What happened? Tell me about it… in detail.' Kim sounded anxious.
'It's entirely your fault.'
'How?'
'You pushed me into wearing a short dress to look a sexy single woman. I had one of my office guys falling all over me, calling me a tease.' Serena was reminded of Adam, suddenly.
'It wasn't a fault; it was good advice. You got laid. You needed it. You hadn't slept with a man for two years, Virgin Mary. How was it?' Kim couldn't stop probing.
'What do you mean — how was it?'
'Was he any good?'
'It was amazing. As you said I needed to make out… it had been a very long time.'
'I've never done it with a stranger like that. You're such a slut,' Kim quipped.
'I wouldn't have either, but I was drunk and I just didn't want to resist any more.' Serena offered unnecessary explanations.
'Good for you. What's his name?'
'What do you want it to be?' Serena described the whole evening in detail over drinks. She narrated how Adam had misbehaved and how the sheriff had intervened at the right time; Elena's funny story about flirting with him and he in turn repeating the words when Serena asked him his name; the close dancing and shameless kissing on the crowded dance floor and how he reassured the rest of her office crowd that he would take care of her… and care he took, very good c
are.
'As the club closed he asked if I wanted to have a drink in his room. He was staying in the same hotel as the discotheque, and I was expecting him to take me somewhere, so I nodded the moment he asked. As he closed the door to his room, we hugged and kissed. It was pretty clear that I would be spending the night with him then, so I asked him if he had anything I could change into to be comfortable. He responded by asking why I needed anything. That was it. The little dress that you made me buy was off and he was all over me.' Serena was hardly coy telling Kim.
'Wow… where was he from? What did he look like?'
'Don't know. He could be anything from Middle Eastern to Mediterranean descent, but he had deep ocean blue eyes and slightly greying sideburns.'
'Never met him again?'
'Like I said, I wasn't ready for a relationship. So we never exchanged any cards. But, I should have... now when I think of that hot night with him,' Serena said regretfully.
'Did you leave in the morning?'
'No. We made out again in the morning and then he called for breakfast in bed. I left after eleven.' Serena's pupils dilated reliving the episode.
'Next time you sleep with someone, at least ask him his name, just in case he makes you scream.'
'Thanks for the advice but I don't know when I'll get a chance again,' Serena moaned.
'I can introduce you to some male models.' Kim winked.
'You know how it is here in Mumbai… people won't stop talking about it if they find out.'
Serena wasn't entirely wrong. It wasn't easy for a woman of her age to find the right sort of man. She was getting to her mid thirties now. She could either meet men like Adi who had their brains between their legs, or men who were in their twenties and who were single. Serena had no inclination for either. She certainly wasn't keen on the former and wasn't sure about a long-term relationship with a younger guy. Hooking up with men of either group for mere physical intimacy wasn't her idea. Certainly not in Mumbai.