DIPLOMACY

One mid-morning, my boss summoned me to his office. Sitting before him were three others, the oldest in the traditional kurta-pajama and a bandh-gala jacket. The other two were younger men nattily dressed in wrinkle-free shirts, trousers and colour-coordinated ties. One wore a turban too.

The boss motioned to me a chair. Thanking him, I sat on it next to the Sardarji.

"Meet Lala Amarnath, my friend for over three decades," the boss said. "When I was posted in ... as branch manager, Lalaji was my most valuable customer. His father was the richest man in the taluk and had the largest land-holding which he had inherited. He is the chairman of the local cooperative sugar mill."

Lalaji shifted his portly frame in the chair, greeted me with folded hands and proceeded to introduce me to the other two. Shamsher Singh Bagga is the Manging Director of the sugar mill and Samir Mittal is the General Manger (Finance).

As I shook their hands, the boss told them, "KT is our new Deputy General Manager (Credit). He has come on deputation from State Bank of Travancore where he was handling corporate credit. The youngest DGM in State Bank group, he is an expert in credit appraisal. Your application for switching over from ... Bank is in safe hands."

Turning to me, the boss said, "The mill is now being financed by ... Bank but Lalaji would like to switch over to our bank for better service. For us, it will be a worthwhile proposition because the advance will be self-liquidating in nature. During the four-five months of the sugar season, the loan account would be fully drawn, but in the remaining months, it would show a huge credit balance. Think of the interest on the loan and the interest-free deposits!"

Meanwhile, Charanjit had come in with a tray of tea and biscuits. After tea and some small talk, the boss asked me to take Bagga and Mittal of the company to my room for discussions and return, while he would spend some time with the Lalaji.

Once in my room, Bagga handed over to me an envelope containing a letter requesting for credit facilities. Mittal opened his briefase and took out a file containing the financial statements for the previous three years. After speaking to me for some time about the company, the two went back to join Lalaji.

On going through the financial statements, I saw that continuous losses had eroded the entire capital. It was in such a sorry state that no banker in his right senses would touch such a proposal with a barge-pole.

The intercom phone buzzed. At the other end was the boss. Before I could broach the subject of the poor financials, he told me, "KT, that Lalaji is a big crook. Don't sanction that loan. Forget all the good things I said about him in his presence. That was just to please him."