Devil in Pinstripes by Ravi Subramanian Page A

discussion moved on. They returned quite late at night and quickly got into bed. They had to leave early the next day.
    Chanda was in office bang on time. She was the first to get in. Only the cleaners were shuffling about doing their daily routine of cleaning desks and watering the ornamental plants.
    Manish Kakkar was the next to come in. He normally came in early. When he saw Chanda at her desk, he walked up to her and wished her. In a sense, it was Chanda’s first week in office and Manish wanted to welcome her into NFS. By nature, Manish was a nice guy. So taken in by Gowri was he that he preferred to live in his shadows rather than take him head on. From his perspective, conflicts were avoidable. Hence, he tended to be seen as a guy who was very much in Gowri’s control.
    A few souls walked in next. The office started filling in only by around 9.45 a.m. And then, the king walked in. Gowri came in around 10 everyday. As he walked towards his office, he saw Chanda, with her head buried in reading the manuals. His secretary was around. The tea came within two minutes. Everything was going on as per the norm. And then, he did something which he normally wouldn’t do. He opened his cabin door, and told his secretary, ‘Call Chanda.’
    The secretary did as was asked and Chanda was at his door step in the next two minutes.
    Gowri didn’t speak but just gestured with his two fingers without looking up when he heard a knock on his cabin door.
    Chanda walked in. Gowri didn’t look up. He again gestured with his two fingers asking her to sit down. His eyes focused on the laptop screen. After about five minutes he looked up at Chanda. ‘Hi.’
    ‘Good morning sir.’
    ‘Morning.’ No smile on his face yet.
    ‘Have you finished reading the manuals I gave you?’
    ‘Not yet, sir. I have read through one of them. There are two more to go through.’
    ‘When I was your age sweetheart, I would stay up all night to read whatever I had to.’ Five hundred pages of manuals in one day was a next to impossible task and he expected her to have read the entire set? It was not fair. He was trying to be tough on her. Chanda was taken aback by this. She did not expect this on the first day.
    ‘If you haven’t read it, we cannot have a meaningful discussion. Have you had an opportunity to sit with Sangeeta to understand the process flows?’
    ‘No sir.’
    ‘Young lady, this is not a bank. Definitely not NYB. Here, if I tell you to do something, I expect it to be done.’
    ‘Sure sir. I will do it today,’ said Chanda as she got up to leave. She was nearly in tears.
    ‘Sit down. I am not through yet.’
    ‘What does your husband do at NYB?’
    ‘He is the branch manager of Mumbai Fort Branch – the largest branch for NYB in the country.’ Gowri had consciously avoided asking her about her family when she had met him for an interview earlier.
    ‘Happy with his job?’ Having put her on the defensive, Gowri was generally trying to strike up a conversation.
    ‘Ya, he is. But . . .’
    ‘But what?’
    ‘He has been worried over the last couple of days.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Vikram is moving.’
    ‘Who Vikram? Vikram Oberoi?’ Chanda just nodded in response.
    ‘Why? Where?’
    ‘Apparently, he is moving to ING Vysya as the retail head.’
    ‘So he is moving out of the bank?’ After a brief period of silence,
    ‘That’s interesting.’
    ‘Who is taking his job?’
    ‘Don’t know. That’s why he is worried. Wondering who would come in his place?’
    Gowri leaned back in his chair, his head extended and resting on the top end of the chair. He stretched back, even as his hands moved up and his palms engulfed his face. He seemed to be thinking about something. After a few seconds of silence, he got back to his normal posture and looked at Chanda. Clearly, he was thinking of something else, ‘Is this public knowledge? I haven’t heard of this earlier.’
    ‘No. Vikram mentioned this to Amit as he is very close to him.