8
GB2 Offices, Mumbai
July–Sept. 2011
Vikram forwarded the e-mail from Tanuja to all his cluster managers. It was a list of all the management trainees who had been allotted their respective branches. When Nikhil got the mail, he scanned the list from top to bottom, looking for one name. . .and there it was. . .at number eight, Zinaida Gomes— Bandra Cluster.
‘Yaaaay!’ he exulted softly. As per the mail, not only was Zinaida allocated to his cluster, she was posted to the Bandra Branch, right under his aegis. He had to share his excitement with Anand. Picking up the intercom, he dialled Anand’s number.
‘Yaar, she is going to be in our cluster!’
‘Who, boss?’
‘Zinaida, you dickhead. She has been allocated our cluster.’
‘Wowwww. That’s wonderful. Is she the only one, or there are others too, boss?’
Nikhil suddenly realized he was so thrilled about Zinaida’s allocation he hadn’t even bothered to scan the list for other names. ‘Wait. . .wait.’ After a long pause during which he reopened the email from Vikram, he replied, ‘One more. . .some idiot from Rajasthan called Kalyan Rathore.’
‘Great. So two of them.’
‘Yes. And as per this list, both of them have been allocated to you. Let’s plan Zinaida’s role. I will talk to you in the evening.’ Nikhil hung up. He suddenly realized he was too excited about Zinaida’s assignment, a fact that he had revealed to his subordinate. Anand, when he hung up, wore a wicked smile. ‘It’s always nice if the boss likes someone from your team. You can use them to get things done,’ he said to himself, as he stepped out of his cabin and headed to the restroom. He splashed some water on his face, combed his hair, tucked in his shirt and walked out of the branch. He was getting late for a call.
The meeting was in Taj Lands End, a favourite venue for all Bandra branch meetings, primarily on account of its proximity. It was a mere ten-minute drive from the branch and was the only five-star hotel in the vicinity. Anand was meeting the accounts officer of the US Embassy in India. Harshita Lele, his relationship manager who handled all the large value accounts of the branch, was keeping him company. Vidur Jagtiani, Nikhil’s counterpart for the South Mumbai Cluster, had set up the meeting. He was to accompany them, but something had come up. Everyone these days has started behaving like Vikram, thought Anand, when Vidur’s secretary called to convey that Vidur was stuck at work.
Three Americans were waiting for them; Harshita identified them the moment they walked into the lobby of Taj Lands End. She had met one of them earlier.
‘Good afternoon, gentlemen,’ said Anand, slipping out a visiting card from his shirt pocket and handing it over. ‘I run the Bandra Branch of Greater Boston Global Bank.’
‘Very good afternoon.’ The American held his card with both his hands and handed it over with the slightest bow. Anand looked at the card that read ‘Tim Cook, Director, Financial Control’. ‘Meet my team,’ he continued and introduced the other two. They were inconsequential, a fact Anand figured out when neither of them made an attempt to hand over their visiting cards to him. Tim was the one driving the discussion.
‘As you are aware, we currently have all our accounts with your bank in South Mumbai. In the next sixty days we will be shifting our consulate from Breach Candy to Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). Have you seen our new building?’
‘Yes sir, I have. It’s a beautiful building,’ Anand lied. The last time he had gone to BKC was over sixty days ago. Does one have to perfect the art of lying if one has to become a branch manager? Harshita wondered. She made a mental note ask to Anand on the way back.
‘Oh, yes. It’s a fabulous new office,’ Tim responded with a broad smile. ‘It will become very difficult for us to manage our banking transactions with your South Mumbai branch. That’s why we asked Vidur to shift our accounts to a branch closer to BKC. He suggested we move to you,’ Tim explained. Anand knew all of this, Vidur had already briefed him.
‘We wanted to meet with the team which will manage our accounts once we move and that’s why we asked for this meeting.’
‘It will be a pleasure to serve you, sir.’ Anand was quite happy with the move. The huge balances the consulate maintained with the South Mumbai branch would all move to his branch, giving a much-needed boost to his branch’s profitability.
‘Mr Cook, I wanted to introduce you to Harshita. You might have met her earlier. She used to be in the South Mumbai branch.’
Tim looked at Harshita as if trying to recollect when and where he had met her. ‘I am sorry. Please put it down to my old age, else who would forget such a charming young lady?’ Tim smiled at Harshita, who smiled back, partly in embarrassment.
‘Once you shift to BKC, Mr Cook, Harshita will be your relationship manager. She will manage the transfer of accounts to this branch and, with her team of service managers, will take charge of every single transaction of yours. While she will be your single point of contact, should you need me, I will also be available to you and your team 24×7. Yours is an important account for us and we will make sure you experience a service level even superior to what you are used to in our South Mumbai branch.’
‘Oh, that’s going to be a bit difficult. The guys in your South Mumbai branch are absolutely brilliant.’
‘They will be pleased to hear that, Mr Cook. I will surely let Vidur know.’
The formal conversation lasted for over twenty minutes, after which all of them left.
On the way back Anand looked at Harshita, ‘Manage this account very carefully. It’s a complex account. They will have multiple issues, remittances, forex transfers, salary payouts, visa fees etc. Just make sure you are very clear with them on what kind of transactions the banking regulations permit you to do and what you cannot. That way, you will save yourself a lot of fire fighting.’
‘Anand. . .I have handled this account earlier, though only for a short duration. I have also handled accounts more complex than this one.’
‘I know, Harshita. You are the best the Bandra branch has seen in a long time. But it’s my job to forewarn you,’ he said, as they drove into the basement of the branch building. Harshita just smiled. She knew there was no one to match her skills in her peer group. She was clearly the best they had.
‘Boss just called,’ Anand’s secretary told him as soon as he set his foot inside his cabin.
‘Oh, okay. Connect me to Nikhil. In any case, I have to tell him about this call with the embassy folks.’
‘No, no. . .the big boss. Vikram called.’
‘Vikram? Why?’
‘Don’t know. He said he wanted to talk to you on some lead.’
‘Great. Get me his number then,’ he said, as he walked into his room and started looking at his emails. When his intercom rang, he picked it up. ‘Vikram on line one.’
‘Hey, rockstar! How are you?’
‘I am fine Vikram, thank you.’
‘How is the mood in the branch now? Has everything settled down after the chaos post Pranesh’s death?’
‘Yes Vikram. That’s a forgotten story now.’
‘Good. I am confident you are taking good care of the branch and the people in the branch. They are lucky to have you as their leader.’
‘Thanks Vikram.’
‘Okay, listen, Anand. I met this guy at a party yesterday. He is looking for a loan of five crore against his property. Stays on Pali Hill. Get someone to meet him and see if something can be done. Take down his details. His name is Chandrasekhar and his mobile number is. . .’
‘Sure Vikram, I’ll get someone to meet him today itself.’
‘Thanks Anand. Keep me posted.’
‘Will do sir. . .I will also annotate the loan file and let the credit folks know you know him well, so they need to treat him with care.’
There was a long pause at the other end. ‘No. . .I don’t know him well. I just met him.’
‘Alright sir, I’ll keep you posted.’ Anand hung up
, wondering why was it that Vikram paused for so long before he said that he didn’t know the prospect. Maybe Vikram was doing something else. After all, he was a busy man.
After the call, Anand called his mortgage RM and gave him the number, asking him to get in touch with the loan prospect.
‘I’ve heard this name before,’ said the RM. ‘But can’t remember where.’
‘It’s a common name, you idiot. Take Harshita with you when you go. If he needs a five crore loan, chances are he is a big man. He can give us some investments and insurance business, too. And moreover, it’s Vikram sir’s reference. So don’t fuck it up.’
‘Yes sir.’
‘Best of luck,’ said Anand as he got up from his chair and ran up two floors, skipping multiple steps at a time, to Nikhil’s cabin to brief him on the meeting with the US embassy.
Zinaida, on her part, settled into her new branch extremely well. In no time she became everyone’s darling. Being young, pretty and reasonably intelligent helped. The hotness quotient of the branch went up manifold with her arrival. Everyone, including Nikhil, was interested in her well-being. Nikhil believed every woman looks good at a particular age, and Zinaida was at that age. She was undoubtedly the most popular RM in the branch—not necessarily the most effective in terms of business volumes though. The latter was clearly Harshita’s domain. And given her vintage and experience, beating her would take something special, even from a teasingly pretty RM. The latter was yet to learn the tricks of the trade.
In all this, poor Kalyan Rathore got left out. Even though he joined the branch at the same time, in a similar role as Zinaida’s, he was completely lost.
The entry of the sexy Zinaida changed the dynamics at the Bandra branch. Unlike the other management trainees, she had worked in a bank earlier, though for a very short time; her learning curve was a lot steeper. When the high-value accounts were reallocated, Zinaida ended up getting some of the best accounts, much to Harshita’s displeasure. But she didn’t complain. She knew re-organizing and re-allocation of accounts was an integral part of an RM’s life. It hurt at times when the relationships you built and nurtured got allocated to someone else. ‘You win some, you lose some. . . As long as you win more than you lose, you are doing fine Harshita,’ was how she consoled herself.
But it wasn’t just the staff; over a period of time, even the customers started noticing her. And Zinaida, despite being a slow starter, kept improving. A larger percentage of customer leads she received started to convert into banking relationships. At the end of the quarter, when the branch RM league tables were put up, in terms of incentive earned in the Bandra cluster, she was second only to Harshita and the margin was ridiculously small. Beginner’s luck, many would say.
‘Yaar, yeh Zinaida kya cheez hai?’ Vikram asked Tanuja one day when they were driving back home.
‘Who? I don’t know her.’ Tanuja suddenly perked up when she heard the name.
‘What is this, Tanuja? You are getting old. . .You haven’t heard about the hot chick in the Bandra branch? And you call yourself the HR head.’
‘Oh, that one. What about her?’
‘She is supposed to be amazing. I have heard stories about her. The men in the Bandra branch seem to like her a lot,’ he remarked snidely.
‘You’ve met her?’ Tanuja sounded irritated. She was extremely possessive about Vikram.
‘I haven’t, no, but I’m planning to go to the branch tomorrow. Will meet her then. Let’s see kya cheez hai.’
‘You run a branch network or do you choreograph a fashion show, Vikram?’ Tanuja sulked. She made a face and turned away from him.
‘Don’t be jealous, babes. . . Irrespective of how she is, she can’t be even half as attractive as you.’
The next morning, Vikram landed at the branch. He was visiting the branch after a good six months and it was a casual, unannounced visit. One of the things on top of Vikram’s agenda was to meet Zinaida.
Even though it was a casual branch visit, Nikhil was ready with an updated presentation for all the branches in the cluster. Every week, Nikhil’s secretary would key in the latest cluster numbers into the presentation and bring it up to date. Vikram was sufficiently impressed. Wasn’t he the one who had poached Nikhil from Guneet and brought him to branch banking?
‘Anand and Nikhil, this is brilliant! Looks like Bandra is on the right track and in the right hands.’ He then turned and looked at Anand. ‘I have seen too many branch managers go down because they won’t get down in the mud with the fucking elephants. You are an inspiration for all the other branch managers. Well done, Anand. Come, let’s do a tour of your branch.’ Anand chest swelled a few inches with pride as he led Vikram down to his branch.
Vikram met all the employees—the tellers, the customer service executives, the RMs—everyone who was in the branch at that time.
‘Anand, how many MTs do you have in your branch?’ he asked, just before his tour ended.
‘Two, Vikram’
‘How are they faring?’
‘The guy Kalyan is a bit slow, but the girl, Zinaida, is splendid.’
‘Hmm. . .good. I would like to spend some time with them, one-on-one. Are they around?’ All along, Vikram had been looking for Zinaida, but when he was unable to meet her, he had asked Anand directly.
‘Kalyan is here, in the branch. Zinaida has gone out on a call. I will call her back.’
‘Thanks, Anand. I need to make a few calls in the interim.’
‘Sure Vikram. You can use this room. I will wait outside.’ And Anand stepped outside to join Nikhil, who was talking to a few of the branch employees.
He dialled Zinaida and asked her to come back; Vikram was waiting. She was in the neighbourhood and rushed back, cutting short her customer meeting.
‘Boss wants to meet you,’ Anand said, as soon as he saw her.
‘Give me five minutes; I just need to freshen up.’
‘Take your time. He has been on a call for the last thirty minutes.’ Nikhil was standing next to Anand, but didn’t say a word.
Zinaida went into the washroom to freshen herself up. Vikram, meanwhile, finished his call and came out of his room. ‘Call them. I am done.’
‘Who would you want to meet first? Zinaida or Kalyan?’
‘Anyone will do. . .You know, these youngsters are such an inspiration—new ideas, new thought processes. Just talking to these guys charges one up, doesn’t it?’ He didn’t sound convincing at all.
‘It surely does, Vikram.’ What else could Anand have said?
‘Ladies first,’ Nikhil, quiet all this while, spoke when he saw Zinaida return from the washroom. ‘Let Zinaida go first.’
A pleasant fragrance filled the air as Zinaida confidently strode towards them. Vikram looked at her and was awestruck. She was amazingly pretty. Not particularly a traditional Indian beauty, but hot. There was arrogance in her stride, as she crossed Nikhil and Anand and walked towards Vikram.
‘Vikram, meet Zinaida,’ Anand introduced them.
‘Of course. I have heard a lot about you from these two gentlemen.’
‘Something good, I hope.’ Zinaida didn’t show any nerves. Normally MTs are quite overawed when they met a senior banker, but not Zinaida.
‘Yes, of course. Come on in!’ Vikram disappeared into Anand’s room, followed by a sashaying Zinaida.
Nikhil and Anand looked at each other and smiled wickedly. Their eyes followed Zinaida’s swaying posterior as she walked into the boss’s cabin.
After five seconds, an excited Nikhil turned to Anand and asked, ‘Did you see what I saw?’
‘Yes, boss. How could I have missed it?’ Anand had a mischievous gleam in his eyes.
‘It was only two earlier. Right?’
‘Yes sir. It was two when she came back from the call. I don’t know when the third came off.’
‘Hmm. . .looks like she opened the third button when she was freshening up. Lucky Vikram!’ And both of them started laughing. ‘Maybe t
he fourth will come off if ever Vikram’s boss comes here. . .hahahaha!’ This time their guffaws were heard by everyone around, who wondered what they were laughing at.
9
Bandra Cluster, GB2
October–December 2011
Bhavin Shah had been following up with Chandrasekhar for close to two months now. When Anand passed on the referral from Vikram to him, Bhavin had hoped to close the deal and win himself a good incentive in time for the Diwali break in October. However, the way it was going, it looked as if it would be well past Christmas before the deal got closed. Many a time he even contemplated dropping the deal, but given that it was a referral from Vikram, he couldn’t do so. He knew that had he spent that much time following up on any other customer, he would have closed multiple deals by then. Harshita, who had accompanied Bhavin on a couple of visits to Chandrasekhar initially, had given up hope of selling any investment or insurance product to him and had quietly excused herself from further meetings.
But persistent effort always pays and Bhavin realized that when, one day, Chandrasekhar called in saying that all the required documents were ready. He offered to drop into the branch to complete the minor pendencies on the application.
Late evening on that Tuesday, Chandrasekhar walked into the Bandra branch to meet Bhavin. Almost all the staff had left for the day. Apart from being late in the evening, it was also the beginning of the month, a time most sales guys normally recover from the exhaustion of torrid month-ends—almost by default, everyone leaves early.
Bhavin was waiting for him in the branch lobby. Both of them sat down at Bhavin’s desk. Thankfully, Chandrasekhar had come with all pending documents Bhavin had asked for and, in no time, the loan application was complete. It could now be submitted for processing. Bhavin was happy. He could now go back and tell Anand the deal was complete from his side.
On completing the loan application work, Chandrasekhar enquired about opening a normal banking account. Bhavin was clueless about account opening and deposit side of banking. He was only a loan specialist.
The Bankster (Ravi Subramanian) Page 7