Devil in Pinstripes by Ravi Subramanian Read Free Book Online Page B

reported.
    ‘Let me cut to the chase Moses. I got a call from Martin Stone in New York. This has come out in the WSJ, just ahead of our results announcement. This has embarrassed our senior management no end. Unless they have a credible story to tell this afternoon, they will be lynched by the media in today’s press briefing on the annual results.’
    ‘So?’ Moses was acting difficult.
    ‘You will have to put in your papers.’ It was Prabhat who spoke this time around. He had been a silent spectator so far in the entire conversation.
    ‘Says who?’ and almost as an afterthought added, ‘What if I don’t?’
    ‘We will be forced to terminate you. This is a serious lapse. A big lapse in controls and procedures.’ Prabhat was getting irritated at this conversation. What the heck? A mistake happens. Hits the media. And not just any ordinary media but, the
Wall Street Journal
in New York! ‘Give me a break!’ he thought, though he didn’t say it out loud.
    ‘And who is this WE?’
    ‘The organisation, and of course Aditya,’ said Prabhat.
    ‘Did you ask this man here if he wants to sack me?’ and he turned and looked at Aditya, who in turn looked at Prabhat. He was banking on Moses quitting on his own. He didn’t bargain for Moses to get difficult. It was all happening so fast that Moses could not have reacted in any other fashion. Survival instincts take over in times of extreme crisis.
    ‘Prabhat, give us five minutes.’
    After Prabhat left, he turned towards Moses.
    ‘If I go, you go with me . . . I have enough aces under my sleeve and you very well know that. In my line Aditya, we have to protect ourselves from “everyone”. External scavengers and internal preys. If something comes upon me, you know what I will do. I have enough evidence on various matters to nail you and the organisation.’ Moses had never spoken like this with anyone in the organisation, but today was different. He was battling for survival.
    ‘Relax Moses,’ said Aditya. He had to make a decision quickly and tactfully. It was a tricky situation. He walked up to the phone and dialled a number. After a few minutes, he kept the receiver down, looked at Moses and smiled. A few seconds later, his fingers worked on the phone and dialled another number. While he was speaking, Moses had walked up to the printer and had picked up a piece of paper. When Aditya was into his second conversation, Moses picked up a pen from Aditya’s table and began writing something on the paper.
    After Aditya put the phone down, he walked up to the door and called in Prabhat. When the latter walked in, he looked at Moses, who extended one hand towards him. In the hand was a piece of paper.
    Prabhat took that paper from him and glanced at it. He began reading it.
     
    To
    The HR Manager
    NYB
     
    Dear Sir,
    I herewith submit my resignation from……………
     
    …. Sd/
    G.
Moses
     
    He did not read beyond the first line. It was not necessary. How the hell did Aditya manage it? It had taken Aditya all of fifteen minutes to get this done.
    Aditya called Martin Stone, minutes after the meeting to tell him that in response to the issue highlighted on the front page article in the WSJ, the head of collections in India had been fired.
    Moses’ resignation from the organisation was announced the next morning. It was so sudden and unexpected that it took everyone by surprise. His last working day was Friday, which was only three days away. When the mail hit his inbox, Amit knew why this had happened. ‘This is corporate life,’ he said to himself. ‘You pay for someone else’s sins.’ He forwarded the mail to Chanda in SCB. The subject of the mail was ‘It sucks’.
    The week after, Moses joined Great Western International Bank as country head of collections. No one knew what transpired behind the scenes. Amit knew that the head of retail banking, at Great Western International Bank, Kaushal Pandey, was a close friend of Aditya Bhatnagar. He was an