Amit landed in Raipur the next morning. It was a short flight from Kolkata. The landing was rough. Earlier, the take-off was rough and the flight too had been quite bumpy. Ominous signs of an impending rough visit to a remote city. However, on landing there, he was pleasantly surprised to find that Raipur was a quaint city in eastern India – well maintained and clean. It was quite different from what he had expected to see.
Unfortunately, the taxi which was supposed to have picked him up did not arrive. Muttering a few inane abuses under his breath, he finally chose to hire a private cab. After hunting for over thirty minutes, he finally found one and managed to land at the NFS branch.
As he walked into the branch, blank, quizzical, irritated and amused looks greeted him. No one recognised him. It was his first visit. ‘I am here to see Ratnesh Jha,’ said Amit in a crisp voice to the customer service executive.
‘He has not come in today,’ said the man with the most mechanical and bored voice on earth. How was he to know who Amit was?
‘Why?’
‘Don’t know sir. I will just check.’ And he walked into the branch manager’s cabin.
‘Sir, Ratnesh hasn’t come in? There is someone asking for him? What should I tell him?’
‘Yaar, take down his number. We will call him back. Tell him that Ratnesh will come tomorrow. He has got stuck.’
‘Hua kya sir? What happened to him?’
‘Arre nothing. Some idiot is coming from Mumbai. Uska boss hai. Last night Gowri had called me. He wanted me to ask Ratnesh to stay at home and instead wanted me to meet this guy. That’s why he is chilling at home.’
‘Okay sir.’
‘And listen. Keep this to yourself. Fizul mein naukri jayegi nahin toh.’
The branch manager’s room was about fifteen feet from where Amit was standing. He couldn’t see Amit; else, he would have realised that he was indeed the guy from Mumbai. An even bigger folly was that he did not shut the door or keep his volume low when talking to the customer service executive. Amit heard every single word that he uttered.
To Amit’s maturity, he did not say anything. He did not even let the people in the branch know that he had heard all of it. If he had to battle this, he had to do it smartly. What’s the point in proving his superiority to the guys in the locations? He had to battle it out with Gowri.
The reality in NFS was staring him in his face. A hundred and fifty branches of NFS were spread across locations far and wide, but the entire branch network was completely and solely under Gowri’s stronghold. At all locations, the branch manager was the senior-most guy. All the product sales guys for car loans, two wheeler loans, and even mortgage loans implicitly or explicitly reported to the branch manager. This was a structure which allowed Gowri unparalleled access to and control on every business which even the business heads couldn’t exercise.
The question was to what extent would he be able to wean people away using his personal charisma? They would never listen to him. They would do only what the branch manager told them to do. And the branch manager would listen only to Gowri. They had been conditioned that way. Gowri was the godfather. Irrespective of what he said or did, the organisation structure was flawed and he knew that.
Today’s Raipur example was a case in point. The sales person for mortgages in Raipur knew that Amit was coming. Amit was the senior-most person in the mortgages business. However, Ratnesh decided to heed to the branch manager’s command. Things seemed to be crystal clear to Amit now. It couldn’t get more real than this. He had to do something. Sitting in Mumbai, there was no way he could get control over the sales teams unless he fixed Gowri. The proximity his sales teams had with the branch manager would only ensure that his authority over them gets diluted.
‘One battle at a time,’ he said to himself and walked into the branch manager’s cabin.
‘Hi! Amit from Mumbai. I am here to see Ratnesh.’
‘Oh sir, good morning.’ The BM got up from his chair and gave the most nervous handshake that Amit had ever encountered. He had not expected him to walk in so early. The realisation that Amit might have heard his conversation with his staff had not dawned on him yet.
Amit though was extremely nice and courteous to the branch manager. With an expression that made him look like he could never know what goes on in the dirty corridors of corporate power struggles, he sat down with the branch manager and patiently reviewed the market and its dynamics and NFS’ performance in the Raipur market. Never during his three hour discussion with the branch manager did he give any indication of the fact that he knew about the politics that was being played behind his back. After the review, he asked for and met folks from the debt recovery teams, the personal loan sales guys and also the customer service people at the branches. Apart from the branch manager, everyone else was quite happy to see him. The entire machinery through which the power-hungry Gowri operated seemed to be well-oiled. The nuts and bolts were in their places. ‘Okay,’ thought Amit, ‘. . . time to loosen up the first screw!’
‘When was the last time anyone from Mumbai came here to see you guys?’ He realised that no one from the head office had come and met them in ages and tried to needle the branch manager. Hadn’t he intentionally chosen one of the smallest markets for a review? He knew that no one would have visited the location in ages.
‘Kakkar sir was here about six months back.’
‘And Gowri?’
He came for the branch inauguration last year.’ And after a pause added, ‘We do regular reviews with him.’ The branch manager was beginning to get defensive.
‘I understand. However, a review over the phone is not as good as a visit. Do not worry, now you will have enough seniors coming in to check on the health of the branch.’ His parting remark left the branch manager sheepishly wondering if it was a threat or a compliment!
As he was leaving the branch, his mobile started beeping. It was Manish.
‘Hi Manish!’
‘Abe Amit, kahan? Raipur mein hai?’
‘Ya Manish. Just finished with the branch.’
‘When is your flight?’
‘Some time later.’
‘Will you do me a favour?’
‘Of course, tell me what do you want from here?’
‘I don’t want anything. I need you to do something for me. It will not take much time.’
‘OKAY.’
‘How well do you know Raipur?’
‘As well as one can get to know a city on his first visit.’
‘Okay. Understood. Look, Shanti Nagar is not too far from the branch. If you take an auto rickshaw from the branch, you will be in Shanti Nagar in ten minutes. In the Shanti Nagar main road, look for a big Nathu’s restaurant. You cannot miss it . . .’ and he gave him continuous instructions for the next three minutes after which he hung up.
‘I will call you if I get stuck,’ Amit had promised.
He was beginning to get excited. Unwittingly he had got an ace up his sleeve.
It took him a little over ninety minutes to finish the work which Manish had asked him to do. Post that, he headed to the Raipur airport and waited for his flight. From the airport shop, he picked up a copy of If God was a Banker. Flipping through the pages, he wondered whether the days of God being a banker were over? These days, bankers behave as if they were the Gods . . .
When the boarding announcement was made, he walked through the security check and boarded the waiting Jet Airways flight to Mumbai. He looked at his watch and noted that it was exactly 7.40 p.m. – two and half hours to Mumbai and another forty-five minutes to get home. By 11 p.m. he should be home. That meant another nine hours before he left for office. Any other professional would have been muttering abuses under his breath under such circumstances. However, Amit’s mind was a different place altogether. He was wondering how he would pass his time. His excitement guaranteed sleep deprivation. The wait for tomorrow was going to be excruciating . . . and tomorrow was fourteen hours away.
2003
The First Confrontation
NFS - Mumbai
Amit woke up on the first ring of the alarm that he had set on his cell phone. On any normal day, he would have lazily pressed the snooze button and managed to get those extra divine ten minutes of sleep. Today was different. Sleep had all but deserted him. Chanda was wondering what the secret behind his jumpy behaviour was. He did not tell her anything. ‘Professional ethics,’ he would say at a later date.
He had fixed up a meeting in office at 8.15 a.m. – much earlier than his normal in-time of 9.30 a.m. He walked into the co-room, the room that he shared with Sangeeta, a few seconds after the clock ticked over 8.15 a.m. He was the first to have arrived. A few janitors were cleaning up the tables and getting them ready so that the office got into squeaky clean shape before everyone walked in.
Amit ticked off one of them and asked him to get a cup of coffee. ‘Make that two,’ Manish had just walked in with a big grin on his face.
‘What is it with you that you always come in when I order a cup of coffee?’
‘There is an old Hindi saying which states that while you are eating, an enemy walks in; while you are sleeping, your love walks in and while you are drinking, your real friend walks in,’ said Manish as he walked into his room and dumped the bag into his seat. ‘No alcohol, so we will drink coffee to our friendship,’ he smiled.
On any normal day, Manish would have opened his bag, pulled out the laptop, plugged it in, and checked for emails. The Singapore office, which was their regional hub, opened a couple of hours before India. Hence, it was normal for his mail box to be clogged even before anyone in India woke up. Today, he dumped his bag on his table and walked up to Amit. By then the cleaner had come in with coffee for the two of them.
‘Look, I too have taken after you. I have started having coffee without sugar.’
‘You can do with some weight loss.’
‘Ha ha! Come let’s go.’ And both of them walked into the board room on the same floor. Only the two of them – Amit and Manish.
They were closeted in the room for about thirty-five minutes when there was a knock on the door. It was Sunil Pande, the HR head. He peeped in through the board room door. Seeing the two of them, he pushed the door open. ‘Quickly shut the door and come in,’ said Manish. Through the small slit in the door, as it shut itself under the recoil of the spring, Amit could make out the silhouette of Suzanna passing by. She glanced in their direction and saw them sitting there. The door banged shut even as Pande took his seat at the far end of the table.
Within minutes, Manish Kakkar’s phone started ringing. Amit and Manish were seated right next to each other and from where Amit was, he could see the flashing screen of Manish’s mobile. The name repeatedly flashing on the screen was Gowri’s. Kakkar glanced at Amit. A smile came on to his lips and he picked up the phone.
‘Ya?’
‘What’s the issue?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Nothing? Then what are all of you doing in the board room. Sunil told me that Amit had called him last night stating that he wanted to meet him urgently in the morning and now you are with him. Any problem?’
‘Arre nothing. We’ll talk when you come.’
‘Tell me now.’
‘Gowri, I will talk to you when you come. I cannot tell you anything now.’
‘I will be there in half an hour. See you,’ and he hung up. Amit was smiling. From the moment he saw Suzanna staring at the three of them in the conference room, he had been expecting Gowri to call one of them. Gowri was very wary of any meetings happening without his knowledge or presence. He discouraged this shit. And now there seemed to be a serious meeting happening on the corporate floor, right next to his cabin, and that too without him. A nasty grin took over Amit’s face. The thought of an insecure Gowri worried about their discussion pleased him no end.
‘Gentlemen, please put your phones on silent and let’s not get distracted by any calls coming in.’ This statement of Amit, put a stop on any chances of Gowri calling Sunil, especially after an unsuccessful attempt at getting information out of Manish Kakkar.
From the moment Manish disconnected his call, Gowri was extremely restless. He didn’t like to be kept in the dark about what was going on. Being in control was his style. He got out of home and drove like a maniac to reach office.
He parked his car in a lane opposite the building and walked furiously to his office. When he reached the corporate floor he didn’t walk to his room. ‘Where are they?’ the entire floor could hear his question which was directed at Suzanna. She pointed towards the board room.
Kadaaak! The door flew open as Gowri walked in. ‘What’s going on folks? Will someone tell me?’
‘Arre Gowri. Come, come. Good to see you. How come so early today?’ Amit was having some fun.
‘Relax buddy!’ he was getting irritated. There was a congregation happening in his company and people were secretive about it. It had never happened earlier. This was the first time. He was the one who kept the secrets . . . no one kept secrets from him.
Gowri sat down on the chair in the boardroom, as if saying that he would not go from there unless he was made a party to the discussion that was on.
‘OKAY,’ began Manish ‘Gowri,’ we wanted to have this discussion before you came in because we know it’s close to your heart.’
‘I am listening’
‘We have just about concluded our discussion. Vikas needs to go.’
‘What?’ Gowri was shocked. ‘You are kidding.’
‘No he is not.’ It was Amit who spoke. ‘Vikas needs to go.’
‘Just because he didn’t suck up to you when you went there!’
‘We will discuss that offline Gowri. But Vikas needs to put in his papers today. Else . . .’
‘Else what?’
‘We will have to terminate him,’ Manish came in.
‘But why?’ Gowri looked at Sunil, who had a helpless look on his face. Vikas was one of Gowri’s handpicked resources who had so far demonstrated complete allegiance to Gowri. The latter had seen him grow from a sales executive to a branch manager.
Vikas was the star sales manager in Kolkata, when Gowri plucked him out and put him as a branch manager in Raipur. The former owed his career to Gowri, and the latter was his godfather.
‘Will anyone tell me why the fuck does he have to go?’
He was losing his patience. Very poor at managing anger. Amit was enjoying this.
‘Gowri. I think the guy is on the take. He is making money out of us.’
‘What?’ and after a pause added ‘Says who?’
‘Me.’ The fact that it was Amit, infuriated him even more. But he controlled his temper and his words and kept looking at Manish.
‘Okay, let me tell you the entire story Gowri. You are aware of the car repossession process. In case a car loan customer continuously defaults on his loan instalments, we repossess his car.’
‘I am aware,’ said Gowri with his jaw tightly clenched. ‘I have done this business longer than you have buddy.’
‘Normally we avoid repossessing the car, but in case the loan value is large and if after repeated follow-up the customer does not pay, we go and do repossess . . . as a last recourse. To ensure that it does not backfire on us we inform the local police authorities and take necessary precautions, so that no one can accuse us of skirting the law and file a case against us for criminal intimidation.’ The last sentence was added as an afterthought when he saw Rekha, the compliance head walking into the room. Amit had sent her a message in the morning asking her to join in.
‘Once the car is repossessed, it is in our custody. We park it in our parking yard and follow up with the customer for his instalments. The customer is informed that in case he does not pay up, the car will be sold and our money recovered from the sale proceeds. At this stage, normally, customers pay up. Collecting becomes easy if the resale value of the car is higher than the outstanding loan amount.’
‘I know all this. Why are you telling me this crap? Tell me what the problem is!’
‘What I am telling you is the genesis of the problem Gowri! Be patient and hear me out. In case the customer does not pay up even after the car is repossessed, we then go ahead and sell the car. In some cases we are able to sell the car for an amount lower than the loan value, in which case we follow up with the customer for the difference or write off the amount in our books. If we are able to sell the car for a value more than the loan outstanding, we return the excess money to the customer. For example, if the customer owes us two lakh and we are able to sell the car for 2,30,000, we take 2 lakh and return the excess 30,000 to our customer.’
‘So?’ Gowri was getting frustrated now. He knew all this. There was no need to reiterate this. ‘As I said earlier, I have done this longer than you have. Tell me what the problem is.’
‘DL2CAM 0192, a Delhi registered Toyota Corolla. Loan in the name of Aakash Gulati, a businessman in Delhi. Has business interests in Raipur. Loan for 8 lakh. Stopped paying after five instalments.’ It was Manish who began the story.
‘When after repeated reminders he did not pay up, we issued a notice to repossess the car. The car was repossessed by our agents in Raipur three months ago. The car is about a year old.’
‘What is the relevance?’
‘The outstanding on the car loan is Rs 7.65 lakh. Given that he had not paid his instalments for the last six months, I had given a go-ahead to dispose off the car and recover our money. Yesterday morning I got a request from Vikas asking for approval for selling the car at Rs 5.1 lakh – a ridiculous price for a Toyota Corolla which is about a year old.’
‘A new one costs Rs 11 lakh. I am sure you would be aware.’ Amit butted in and the sarcasm was not lost on Gowri. He was not amused. A dirty stare was all that he could return to Amit. Couldn’t say anything else. If looks could kill, Amit would be dead by now.
‘I went back to him on email. A year old Toyota Corolla should definitely get a better price. On that mail I asked him for reasons why the car would not sell at anything beyond Rs 5.1 lakh. He replied stating that the car has been involved in an accident in the past and is severely dented. This has impacted the second hand sale price of the car.’
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