One Indian Girl by Chetan Bhagat

‘Hi, this is Radhika Mehta from the New York office,’ I said. I had dialled into a conference call with
our Asian office in Hong Kong. Owing to the time difference the call had been scheduled late, at 10 in
the night. I took the call from home, sitting on the living room sofa. Debu read a book in the bedroom,
waiting for me to finish.
‘Hi, Radhika. This is Peter Wu from the Hong Kong office,’ a voice on the phone said.
‘Josh Ang from Hong Kong,’ came another one.
‘Jonathan from the New York office,’ Jonathan said.
I placed the phone on speaker mode so I could have my hands free. I had made myself a cup of
mint tea, and cupped it in both hands.
Jonathan introduced the deal.
‘We are dealing with a company called Luxvision, a spectacles and sunglasses manufacturer.
Radhika has already sent out the info memo. Currently in trouble, has no cash. The only assets are
some factories in China.’
Goldman Sachs excelled in working together across offices. While the deal came from New
York, we would engage the Hong Kong office to help us out. Josh and Peter would visit the company
plants in China to see if the factories actually existed, and if they had any value.
‘Client is saying the factory is in Shenzhen, just across the border from Hong Kong,’ I said.
‘Easy then. We could do a day trip,’ Peter said.
‘That would be good,’ I said. ‘They are saying the factory is in the heart of town, and if we
close it down we could rezone into residential use and sell apartments.’
As I finished my sentence, Debu tiptoed into the living room. I placed a finger on my lips to
signal him to be quiet. He nodded and pointed at the fridge. He walked up to the fridge and took out a
cup of strawberry yoghurt. He offered me some. I declined and sipped my tea. I smiled at how
domesticated we had become. He could be in the kitchen doing his thing. I could sip my tea and work.
I sent him a flying kiss. He smiled back.
I tuned back into the call.
‘Shenzhen is growing fast. Depends on the location and local permissions. What about the
workers?’ asked Josh, a VP in the Hong Kong Distressed Debt Group.
Debu sat at the dining table and ate his snack. The call continued on the speakerphone.
‘Two hundred workers. If we continue the manufacturing they stay,’ I said.
‘Though if we keep the business running it is only worth forty million. If we sell the land for
apartments, it is seventy million,’ Jonathan said.
‘Wow,’ Peter said, ‘huge difference in value.’
‘Yeah, so obviously we want the workers out and to explore the land sale option,’ I said.
‘Okay, give us a few days, we will make a visit and revert,’ Jon said.
‘Hope we get good news,’ I said.
The call ended. I hung up and shut my laptop. I noticed Debu.
‘Hey, you are still here,’ I said.
He scraped out the last of his yoghurt.
‘Yeah. I was listening to bits of your call.’
‘Boring banker stuff, right?’
‘Kind of. However, I think I sort of understood what is happening.’