Devil in Pinstripes by Ravi Subramanian

that Gowri was very emotional about it. In fact, Gowri had hung his old ID card along with a copy of his old visiting card on the soft board next to his table.
    Gowri’s secretary saw it and smiled. Sangeeta winked at her, ‘Gowri will like it this way . . . thanks for calling me after that bitch left.’ And she made her way into Gowri’s room.
    ‘Gowri, why have you hired a product manager?’ This was basically a very loud echo of her insecurity.
    ‘What do I do? These bankers want to come everywhere. Our company is a dharamshala. Aditya called up and asked me to hire her. Her husband is one of Aditya’s
pappus
.’
    ‘You should have refused to hire her.’
    ‘Don’t worry. We will keep her here for some time. She will feel so frustrated that she will quit on her own. For how long can she stand up to us? Ha ha!’ and then both started guffawing. The plotting game had already begun. Chanda had no clue what she was up against.
    ‘I can see you are still using the old ID card.’ Sangeeta’s efforts bore fruit when Gowri asked her this question.
    ‘Ya Gowri. Don’t all of us miss our old company? These NYBankers have come in and screwed our company. One day you should start a company and all of us will join you. Together we will create a new company . . .’ she paused for effect and then added in a dramatically serious tone, ‘under your leadership, Gowri.’
    Gowri’s chest swelled a few inches. ‘Yes, of course. We must. We must. We can’t continue to serve these bastards for long,’ and the bitching continued.
    Having an overwhelming personality like Gowri, had its own share of effects. It naturally led to a number of clones rising up in the organisation. Sangeeta was the best example. She aped him in every manner. She was a female Gowri and she was also one of Gowri’s closest confidantes.
     
    ‘How was your day?’ Amit asked Chanda, that night as he walked in and dumped the keys of his Ford Ikon on the side rack. Last year, he had sold his Maruti 800 and bought this sexy black Ford Ikon. Doesn’t your vehicle have to keep pace with your career’s progression?
    ‘You first settle down. Take your laptop off your shoulder. I will tell you.’
    ‘Okay, I am waiting,’ and he walked off to change into his track pants and the oldest most comfortable T-shirt he ever owned. It’s funny but true – you just can’t get rid of some T-shirts even if they cross all limits of social embarrassment if displayed in public! They are just so damn comfortable! Ten minutes later, he joined his wife in the kitchen, where she was stirring up some fresh veggies for dinner.
    ‘Was just about OKAY,’ said Chanda as if speaking to the frying pan.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘No. It’s just that I thought the place was too cold. Maybe after years at SCB, joining this place was quite a change. Probably I am reading too much into it.’
    They settled down for dinner and the discussions moved away from NFS to other routine stuff. ‘Let’s go out for coffee,’ Amit proposed, to which Chanda readily agreed.
    ‘What time do you have to leave tomorrow?’ asked Amit as Chanda was locking the door.
    ‘Have to be there by 9 a.m. That’s what the letter says.’
    They got into the car and made their way to the latest Barista – a new coffee bar that had opened up close to their house in Bandra.
    ‘Arre, I forgot to tell you. Vikram might be moving.’ Vikram Oberoi was the head of branch banking and Amit’s boss. He too was very close to Aditya and in fact, both Aditya and Vikram had played a role in retaining Amit when he had expressed a desire to move to GE.
    ‘Where to?’
    ‘Don’t know?’
    ‘He is the one who along with Aditya prevented you from moving to GE.’
    ‘I know.’
    ‘And what about the promise to make you a business manager?’
    ‘Don’t know. I will ask him when I see him. Anyway it was Aditya’s commitment, not Vikram’s.’
    ‘Ya, but again, he too played a part in retaining you.’
    And the