Nothing Lasts Forever - No Secret Can Stay Buried

by Vish Dhamija

  'Anyway, I have been promoted.' Serena changed the subject.

  'That's great news. So what will you do now?'

  'GK's job. He's got promoted too. Did I tell you that he split up with Stella — his American wife? She was two-timing poor GK. She finally dumped him to move back to America with another guy.' Serena told Kim about the unhappy conversation she had had with GK in Dubai.

  'That's really sad. I thought only men left their wives for younger women.'

  'Let's put on some music.' Serena walked to the CD player. 'It'll change the mood, too.'

  Serena realised that in the last two years, she had not invited friends over to her place even once. She had virtually shut herself out of the whole social scene, indiscriminately declining every invitation she got. Kim had been the only friend she had met regularly. Consequently, after a few attempts, the friends had stopped inviting her, and had obviously carried on with their own lives.

  'I'm thinking of organising a small get-together with old friends, Kim. Will you help me, please?' Serena requested.

  'Of course I will. Why do you even ask?' Kim was nice as always. 'Who do you want to meet?'

  'Everyone we used to party with. Do you have the latest telephone numbers for all? I would like to call them tomorrow.'

  'Yes. I don't think a lot have changed. Only Anita has moved to Colaba and I am sure you know about Sonny…' Kim said, in a rather melancholic tone.

  'What about Sonny?'

  'Where have you been, girl? It was all over the news last month — he killed himself.'

  'What?'

  'I know, it's very sad. No one knows the bona fide cause, as he didn't leave a suicide note. He looked fine to me when we met last time. He was his usual jovial self; nothing seemed out of place for any of us to even doubt. As far as I know, he had everything going for him. When he did not turn up for work for two days, his colleagues informed the police who found his body in the apartment later. The postmortem stated the cause of his death as an overdose of sleeping pills. The police and the media have only been guessing… some tabloids even suggested he was gay and his lover walked out on him; others said he had lost all his money in the recent stock market crash last month — you know how these tabloids work. They'd write anything that sells.'

  'Oh no!' Serena closed her eyes.

  'And, because he was in Worli, it was Inspector Michael D'Cunha, once again, who was investigating the case. He recognised me instantly. In fact, he even asked about you, though he struggled to remember your name,' Kim said.

  'Anyone can recognise you, Kim. I am really sad about Sonny. It happened while I was still in Dubai. I must have missed the news, since the last few weeks were absolutely hectic. Sonny and Raaj were close friends and I just saw him once after Raaj...' Serena remembered her meeting with Sonny soon after she had moved into the Bandra apartment. She narrated to Kim the short early morning meeting with Sonny and how broken he was when he had come to see her. She also told Kim she had been quite shocked when Sonny had asked her if the police were investigating foul play.

  'In fact, they did suspect foul play,' Kim said.

  'I know. We were together when he asked me a lot of questions.'

  'No. He particularly picked me up for lot of ridiculous questions later on and humiliated me like I have never been before. Don't know why, but I had a feeling he was hot on my scent for some strange reason linking Raaj romantically with me. He was downright rude and traumatising, unlike his behaviour with you.' Kim then told Serena for the first time about her ordeal with D'Cunha two years ago.

  'In one of the meetings he mentioned to me that he suspected someone, but he later confirmed that his inkling had been baseless.' Serena recounted D'Cunha's telephone call saying that he had received all the reports and was closing the case.

  'That inspector was, still is, such an eccentric and distrustful guy. I was shocked to see him again when I reached Sonny's place after the news. I thought he might have moved on, or got promoted to some place else. It wasn't pleasant seeing the same police inspector twice at such unnatural incidents in two years. He could have conveniently looped me into another investigation with no substantial evidence. He scared the daylights out of me,' Kim said slightly hysterically.

  'I am glad all that is behind us and our friendship is intact. He almost caused a split among us, it seems. Why didn't you tell me about this before?'

  'You were going through hell. I just didn't think it was fair to bother you with this. Adi helped me get him off the needless investigation.' Kim then narrated how Adi had helped her without divulging the details of the evening at the guesthouse.

  15

  January 1999

  The year's targets were being set for retail sales and Serena had determined that the numbers to be delivered by her team were dreadfully steep. The growing competition was acquiring new customers by discounting the credit card fees and offering generous interest rates. In the past few years, GK had aggressively increased the market share by over five percentage points, making them the market leader in retail. Maintaining the leadership, as always, looked more difficult. It needed a revamped selling strategy. Putting money into variable marketing by discounting bank products wasn't an option; that would mean buying market share while making losses.

  Instead, Serena presented a plan to GK requesting generosity on incentives to all outbound telesales staff and bank sales agents. Agencies worked on commission and a decimal increase in percentage could help them to employ more — and better — staff. When it came to her own employee incentives, GK wasn't comfortable dishing out cash. He influenced Serena to talk with her team and agree on a team conference and pleasure trip abroad if they surpassed the targets in the second quarter.

  'The location would depend on how much you beat the target by,' he challenged. 'If you only reach your target, you only get your salaries.'

  The debate on incentives concluded. The first quarter was an enormous setback. From the current position of the sales, it didn't seem the team would recover in the second quarter to even meet the targets; exceeding them looked far-fetched.

  ***

  The Member-Get-Member programme for existing customers started in April with lukewarm results. After being coaxed by their advertising agency, Serena had signed off some money for product placement in a small budget Bollywood movie. The scene was built around the lead actor, playing a struggling sales agent, trying to sell Member-Get-Member under their bank banner. Surprisingly, the movie became a blockbuster beyond expectations and the rub on credit card sales was so astonishing that no amount of bought media or advertising could have matched it. The credit card sales didn't look back after that. Given the large increase in the customer base, it was easy for the telesales and the sales agents to sell other bank products too. By early June the targets had been surpassed; the balance of the month only consolidated the position in the market.

  'Where are we going for the incentive trip?' Serena asked GK, as she entered his office with the sales data.

  'You are smart… and lucky,' GK complimented.

  'Thanks, GK.'

  'Why don't you canvas some opinion from your team on the location?' GK passed a paper to Serena. 'This is the budget before you start planning for Las Vegas.'

  Serena took the sheet and walked to Maria, who was now her secretary. 'Could you call up our travel agents and ask for five-day trip options overseas for thirty-five people please? It needs to be organised as a conference for the first two days, and then we can add the weekend to give time off to everyone. And, you are coming along.'

  The shortlist was on Serena's desk shortly after lunch. Dubai, Singapore, Thailand or Egypt were the suggested places where thirty-five people could travel and stay in the budget provided.

  'First two days in Cairo, and then we take a coach to Sharm El Sheikh,' Serena told GK.

  'Okay by me.'

  ***

  Cairo

  August 24, 1999

  Cairo is another Mumbai. The
infrastructure, the chaos, the traffic, the dust and pollution in the atmosphere… everything reminded Serena of that city. Cairo even looks equally populated, although it is not. The Grand Hyatt, located in the heart of the commercial area of Cairo and overlooking the River Nile, was well placed for a conference-cum-incentive trip. The group booking had got them a good discount to board thirty-five of them comfortably.

  The flight arrived Tuesday, late afternoon. After checking into the hotel by six, most in the group were at the concierge to check out their options for the remainder of the evening. The old part of the city, Khan-el-Khalili, was the consensus, as it was a touristic spot offering traditional and exotic shopping plus street-side local food. A few of them stayed back in the hotel for a relaxed evening, while some others wanted to explore the newer parts of the city near the hotel. According to the plan the conference was to start Wednesday morning and end late Thursday afternoon, leaving people time to visit the ancient Pyramids of Giza, as they were almost in the suburbs of Cairo. The coach was booked to pick them all up from the hotel early Friday and take them to Sharm El Sheikh before they made their way back to Mumbai, travelling through Cairo.

  GK and Serena were among the few who stayed back in the hotel. Serena wanted to check with the banqueting staff to ensure that everything was organised for the conference the next day. After confirming the arrangements, Serena called GK and some others to check if they were in a mood for dinner in the only revolving restaurant in Egypt, which was in the hotel they were staying.

  The conference the next day was more a presentation from different regions on their objectives and actual accomplishments. The Eastern region, based in Calcutta, was lagging behind their targets but because the west and north had significantly over-achieved, the whole team had earned themselves the incentive. It was decided that the region needed a fix when they got back. Serena summed up the one and a half day event with a morale boosting speech on their success, motivating people by promising another trip if they repeated their success at the end of the year. GK was taken by surprise at the announcement but did not seem to mind.

  If people delivered, they deserved it. Why not?

  ***

  The Pyramids of Giza make everyone wonder how a seemingly impossible feat was accomplished without modern machinery and equipment more than five thousand years ago. Though most of the treasure in them has already been looted, or is on show in government museums around the world, the structures themselves are imposing. One can enter only the smallest of the three.

  It was definitely dusty and a bit claustrophobic — the authorities, surely, must be spraying some disinfectant for it to smell the way it did. Serena felt queasy and nauseous halfway down the tunnel and, there being no exit till one reached the bottom before turning back, her condition deteriorated. GK, who had been inside them before had cautioned them all about the atmosphere inside, but she was primed to brave it. One cannot return from Egypt without experiencing the Pyramids, she was firm. Two of the team members played good Samaritans, and brought her out while others continued with the tour. There wasn't a doctor on site, so cold water was the only medicine. She sat on the Sphinx nearby, with a few others, to recover. Back at the hotel, she went straight into her room to rest before the hectic eight-hour coach journey to the Red Sea, planned for the next day. Everyone, except Serena, was down with his or her baggage early next morning. After trying to call her room several times, Rohan knocked on her door to check if everything was okay, as she hadn't even come down for dinner the night before. She looked a mess. She had, obviously, had a rough night throwing up and looked in no shape to travel. Most of the team was disappointed because Serena had been so keen to go to the Red Sea for swimming, snorkelling and all the other water sports. She had been working out in the gym for the last three months to tone her body, and the guys, naturally, were excited at the prospect of seeing their lovely boss in a bikini, along with the other girls. GK decided Serena should stay back and join the rest by the evening or next day if she felt fine, or else she could decide to fly back whenever she chose to Mumbai. Alternatively, she could wait and join the rest of the group in Cairo on the Monday morning flight, as planned. As the troop boarded the coach, Serena retreated into her room to relax.

  She hardly stepped out of the hotel room anytime between then and Monday morning, when she took the cab to Cairo airport to rejoin her office colleagues. Everyone sympathised with her for missing so much fun at Sharm El Sheikh. One and all talked about Maria's bikinis, the great nightlife, brilliant pubs and cafes, the sea... Serena, still looking pale, was nearly in tears for missing the big party.

  ***

  Mumbai

  January 2000

  Serena's department had repeated the mid-year achievement. She had also chaired the cross-functional initiative to effectively manage the Y2K transition. The new millennium started positively after her review with GK.

  'You're a star,' GK complimented.

  'Thank you, GK. Nothing could have been achieved without your support and guidance through the difficult times,' Serena reciprocated.

  'The bonus and pay rise shouldn't be a cause of concern for you Serena, but I am at a loss as to how we can reward you in terms of assignments?'

  'I don't know. You're the boss.'

  'Do you have anything in mind, besides joining the competition?' GK surprised her by the question.

  'GK, I have been thinking, I need a change of scene, both for professional and personal reasons.' GK listened patiently. 'Professionally, because I am at the helm of retail banking and there seems to be nowhere else for me to go, unless of course you move. I am not sure if I want to foray into another area for now…'

  '…And personally?' GK asked impatiently.

  'I am the wrong side of thirty. Being a widow makes my situation even more difficult. I can't seem to meet the right guys in Mumbai. I either meet middle-aged men who are boring, or ones who aren't looking for a long-term relationship. They treat me as someone who should be willing to jump into bed with them with no commitment whatsoever...'

  'I understand, though I am not sure what I can do about it?'

  'Could I move oversees to a location where I can make a fresh start, please? Any other place, where society is less conservative than India and men aren't blatant chauvinists trying to get into my bed if I talk casually or flirt,' Serena pleaded; she sounded like a recent victim of some hypocrite.

  'That could only be Europe or the US. Unfortunately, we don't have anything in the offing but... we can look out. I know some people who I worked with, years back, in the New York office. Let's see when something comes up next,' he offered.

  The objectives were set. They didn't seem so impossible to achieve after last year's success. The trip, the one to be organised for surpassing the full year objectives, got postponed due to budget cuts. It was disappointing, but it was time to get back to work.

  16

  New Delhi

  February 2000

  Deputy Superintendent of Police Michael D'Cunha walked into Delhi Police HQ to take up his new assignment. His promotion had got delayed due to red tape, but he was glad that everything had paid off in the end. His commitment to work was never in doubt; his obstinate investigations, however, put his superiors in awkward situations sometimes. He had come up the ranks successfully in the State of Maharashtra and was now promoted to the IPS cadre, with an initial two-year posting in the capital. A lot of ambitious officers in the police force who joined the state police retired there. Only a select few like D'Cunha went into the higher echelons of the police force, which was otherwise comprised of officers that had got through the tough qualification process of IPS rather than the state-run examinations. Even the training facilities for IPS were located separately at Hyderabad. Those selected in IPS cut through the ranks and joined as superintendents in various states and union territories across the country, on a range of police and peripheral functions. As they did not go through the usual ranks, they tended to be much y
ounger; hence, their chances of rising to the top were significantly higher simply because of their years of service. D'Cunha was in his late forties when he became the DSP, while an IPS graduate could have been in the same position by his early thirties.

  D'Cunha was fully aware that his new supervisor, Kabir Singh, Superintendent of Police — South Delhi, was an astute IPS officer from the early 1990s batch, known for his strict discipline and regimented style of working. News on the grapevine was that he had fallen in love with a girl in his college days and having lost her to another man, he had pledged to remain a bachelor, dedicating his entire time to work. Like most extraordinary performers he missed the essential work-life balance, working over fourteen hours a day. He was also driven by a neurotic obsession to deliver exceptionally superior and quick results. With few interests besides his career, he was still in his late thirties and going by his impressive track record, he was destined to be Inspector General before retiring.

  D'Cunha reasoned if he spent a couple of years on this job and managed another high profile central position (with Kabir's recommendation) he could well be back in Mumbai as the Additional Commissioner of Police — at the level his dad retired — with a good seven years of service left to rise further. Determined to succeed, he had made arrangements for his family to stay in Mumbai for a year to give him time to settle in the new job. Moreover, his elder son was in his last year of school and he and his wife had agreed that a small sacrifice to better both his own and the child's future was important at this juncture. But first, Kabir needed to be convinced that D'Cunha had the mettle to be made in-charge to demonstrate his true capabilities, and was not merely worthy of a marginal position in traffic police, which a few over-enthusiastic recruits had been sidelined into after losing their sanity working for Kabir.