77. WHEN I WAS IMPRISONED IN THE BANK (2002)

 STRESS, SUCCESS AND EVERYTHING IN-BETWEEN 

The Highs and Lows of A Woman’s Journey in the Corporate World

CARE: This is Chapter 77 of my book Stress, Success and Everything In-Between. These are individual anecdotes but to understand the professional journey in totality, I would recommend reading the book right from Chapter 01 onwards.

Finally, I was promoted to Top Executive Grade when I expected it the least. Before I could respond to innumerable congratulatory messages, I was moved to Chandigarh and thrust into the murky depths of the Recovery and Rehabilitation Branch.

My desk promptly became a dump yard of fat files containing the history and developments of non-performing accounts parked at the branch. Every account had at least two fat files, and my head was perpetually buried in the mountain of these files. Days blurred into a monotonous cycle of studying and understanding the details of each case, and I spent every moment trying to understand them. A week was over in a blink.

On that particular evening, I was engrossed in studying a file when my esteemed boss phoned, “I want a status report on the Lal & Lal Industries. Tomorrow morning at 10am sharp!”

Panic set in. I looked at the clock. It was already past 6 pm. The history of Lal & Lal Industries was spread over three fat files already adorning my desk. Looking at their size, I had kept them aside to be studied last. I stepped out of my cabin only to find that the officer who handled the case had already left. My next in command was on leave. It sent a shiver down my spine. Even if I worked the entire night, I could not have prepared a self-contained note on the account by 10am the next day. Still, I picked up the files and started studying them. I was so engrossed in pasting Post-it slips, putting flags on the relevant notes and studying the files that I lost track of time. 

As I delved deep into this unwarranted abyss, the lights went off. The office room plunged into darkness and an eerie silence, punctuated only by the whirring of my Personal Computer. Assuming the electricity had gone off, I waited for someone to switch on the generator soon. A few minutes passed, but nothing happened. I pressed the call bell, but it did not function. I emerged from my room and was shocked to find the entire floor dark and deserted. Despite it being pitch dark, I managed to reach the main door. It was locked from the outside. The security guard on the evening duty, not finding anyone in the main hall, had locked the gates from outside, switched off the lights, and left. I thumped at the massive wooden door and pounded hard, but the banging echoed through the empty hall. There was no response from anywhere. I had actually become a prisoner on my office floor.

Fumbling through the numerous office tables and chairs, I managed to return to my office room. Searching through various drawers in the dim light of the computer screen, I finally located the phone directory. As my eyes strained to decipher the phone numbers, the tabletop computer, my last beacon of hope, sputtered and died. Its battery back-up had conked off.

Uff! What do I do now? Who do I contact? I looked out of the window of my room on the second floor. All the cars had moved, and the parking lot was empty. I tried to shout loudly and wave frantically at some people I saw on the ground floor, but nobody looked up or heard my voice.

Then, I remembered my cell phone, my new, fancy acquisition post promotion, which I had received that day only. I fumbled for it in my bag, my fingers trembling. Who will I call? I had not fed any numbers in its phone book. Thankfully, there was a call from a colleague who had called me earlier that day to test my phone. He responded quickly. After I recounted my predicament, he laughed loudly, "You must be kidding. Right?" And then came the big surprise. My colleague handed his cell phone to our boss, who roared with a hearty chuckle, "Locked in the Bank, eh? Sounds like a good start to your assignment." They were sharing a drink at his home: I could hear their laughter with the sound of ice cubes clinking in their whisky glasses. Jealousy, raw and bitter, washed over me.

The Security Officer soon arrived with the security guard, and they extended profuse apologies while releasing me from the unintended prison.

I carried all three files relating to the Lal & Lal Industries home, toiled overnight to prepare a note on the case, and took it to the boss at 10 am sharp. His room was empty.

His Personal Secretary informed me, "The boss has left for Delhi this morning to attend a meeting. He will be away for two days. I wonder why he asked you to get this note by 10 am today."

I returned to my room and wondered what the urgency expressed the previous evening was all about. Could it be a sinister ploy to make me burn the midnight oil? Or was it to test the level of my commitment? Or to get vicarious pleasure out of my discomfiture? God alone knows!  

(To continue....)

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