21
‘Welcome sir, welcome to State Bank of India,’ Bala said. His tone couldn’t hide
his anger, thereby ruining the sarcasm of his lines. He sat on my desk, waiting for
the exact joyous moment when he could squash me.
‘I’m really sorry, my auto met with an accident,’ I lied.
“Your chummery servant said you left at five,’ he said.
‘You called my chummery? It’s only nine. Isn’t that the official time anyway?’
‘No, this is Citibank. Not a public sector bank,’ he said.
‘So, people who work here cannot have life,’ I mumbled.
‘What?’
‘Nothing. Ms Sreenivas is coming at ten today,’ I said.
‘And you haven’t prepared for it. Have you read the reports?’
‘Yes, I have. But the tricky part is she is down ten lakh. And that is because
she believed these reports. So no matter how well I read these reports, she won’t
trust them. Can I sit on my chair?’ I asked.
Bala stared at me, shocked by my defiance. I took my seat. ‘You told me to
push these stocks,’ I said, ‘and now our clients are down. Ms Sreenivas is an old
lady. She will panic. I want you to be prepared.’
‘Prepared for what?’
‘That she, and some other clients too, could move funds elsewhere.’
‘How? How can they? This is Citibank,’ Bala said.
‘Because even as the Citi never sleeps, we make our customers weep.’