The Incredible Banker (13 page)

'I am serious. I stay close by and I have a decent stock of whisky. If it is ok with the two of you, you can have a drink with me before you head home,' the referee offered.

'Oh, no. But thank you for the offer.' Savitha was quick to decline.

'It will indeed be my privilege if the captain of Chembur Chargers shares a drink with me. You are the captain of my dream team. You are my idol, sir.' When the referee flattered him, Deepak couldn't refuse. This was his weakness. People could get away with even murder with Deepak as long as they praised his game of basketball. And after the referee touched his vulnerable nerve, there was no going back.

The three of them headed to the referee's house, which was close to the club. The referee opened a new bottle of Chivas Regal in Deepak's honour and Deepak was extremely touched. He hadn't realised that he had such a fan following in the suburb.

So, Mr Referee, are you new to Chembur?' asked Deepak.

'No, I have been here for some time now. I have just joined the club on a temporary basis. The full-time coach was injured in a bus accident. A bus hit his scooter and disappeared in the blinding rain,' he answered.

'Yes, yes, the game incharge told me back at the office. But how do you know it was a bus?'

'Just a guess. That's what people say.' The referee felt a bit discomforted by this question from Deepak

'Hmm...he was a nice guy,' said Deepak.

'He
is
a nice guy, Deepak. Remember he is still alive.'

'Oh yes. Thanks...,' and then he suddenly remembered that he didn't know the name of the referee. 'By the way, I don't even know your name,' Deepak asked him.

'Haha...yes...my name is Anakadundubi Venkula....'

Deepak cut him short. 'Hold, hold...I didn't follow a word of it. Actually, I like calling you "Referee". You ok with that?'

'Yes, sure.'

'So where do you work? I am sure you do something more than being a basketball referee.' Deepak wanted to know more about him.

'I am looking for a job...attending job interviews at the moment. Recession is killing my opportunities. No one wants to hire. Almost everyone I know is laying off. I have just taken up this club job so that I can make ends meet.' The referee's answer made Deepak think for a while.

'Hmm...club job to make ends meet...and serving Chivas Regal at home. Interesting combo.' Deepak looked at the referee with raised eyebrows and asked, 'What's the story, mate?'

"This is a very old bottle. I got it as a gift from my previous employer when I did a project for them in half the time. I don't drink alone at home. So it's just been lying around.' The referee poured out one large drink for Deepak. Savitha, who was listening to the conversation patiently, declined the drink. She wanted to make sure that Deepak was driven back home safely and her expressions indicated that there was something about the referee that she didn't like.

The conversation that night centred around the game; the interesting aspects of basketball, NBA, the various basketball leagues in the US, the players, the sponsors, etc. The referee seemed very well informed and was able to engage Deepak in a conversation. For Deepak, it was a feeling of association, joy, pride and, to a certain extent, intellectual stimulation. He had met many basketball fans in his life but here was one who knew the game well. He liked talking to the referee and found him very interesting. Time flew by. Neither of them had a clue about what time it was. Radhika had gone to Delhi and hence Deepak was in no hurry to reach home. Savitha had asked her maid to stay over and take care of Aakansha that night because she knew that the post-match party would last long.

Savitha was not a sports person. She didn't quite understand basketball. The never-ending discussions between the referee and Deepak bored her but she sat there quietly listening to them. For the first time she was seeing Deepak discuss basketball so animatedly with someone. It was about 4 a.m. when the discussion ended. Savitha, by then, had crashed on the couch in the one-bedroom tenement of the referee.

By the time the referee shook her awake, Deepak was sloshed and not in his senses. Savitha took him to the car and dragged him to her house. The maid helped her support him and took him to the guest bedroom and dumped him on the bed there. He had no clue where he was till he woke up at four in the afternoon. It didn't matter because it was a Sunday.

Aakansha had gone out to play and the maid had gone back home. It was just the two of them. Savitha went to wake him up with a cup of tea. Deepak was lazing in bed. He had vague memories of being carted up the stairs by Savitha and her maid. Memories of the basketball discussion with the referee and the many pegs of Chivas Regal came back to him. Savitha knocked on the door. Deepak turned around to see her and smiled.

'Time to get up,' she announced as she kept the cup of tea on the bedside table.

'Or maybe time to get you into bed,' said Deepak naughtily as he extended his arms and pulled her into bed and kissed her passionately.

'Deepak, control...control. Aakansha will be back any time,' Savitha tried to dissuade him.

'Where is she?'

'She is out with her friends, playing.'

'Does she have a spare key to the house?' Deepak's eyes betrayed a tinge of mischief as he asked her the question.

'Chup, Deepak. How would she have the keys ? She is barely eight.'

"Then what is the problem?' And Deepak hugged her and rolled her into the bed. 'We will see what to do if she comes back,' he said before he held her in his arms. His lips sought hers and she began to melt in the warmth of his love. She responded with lesser intensity initially. She hadn't yet completely shed her inhibitions. Deepak's loving embrace made her discover her latent desire but not before something pricked her conscience. She suddenly remembered she hadn't been with a man since her husband passed away a few years ago. Maybe it was time for her to shed her ice-maiden image and allow her feelings to overwhelm her. However, the closeness, the attraction for Deepak, the desire was too much for Savitha to handle. She succumbed to his wishes and what followed was a love-making so intense that they were lost in the ocean of ecstasy. There was also a fear that Aakansha could return any time and Deepak did not want to be left high and dry. By the time they finished, they were both exhausted and lay inseparable in each other's arms. Deepak smiled at her and kissed her lips. 'You are amazing. Why didn't we do this earlier?' he told her. She just smiled and got up.

'Sexy!' he called out to her.

She turned back.

'Come back, sexy woman,' he said mischievously.

'Come on, don't be greedy. Get up now.'

'Sexyy...you are too hot!'

'...and?' Savitha began fishing for compliments.

'Sexy...hot and sweet.' Deepak knew how to please her.

'...and?' she asked again.

'Interesting, nice and intoxicating.,' Deepak was ready with more compliments.

'Enough, enough! Chup now.' She smiled at him. The smile was not easy to understand. It was hiding a maze of thoughts, a web of emotions. Savitha felt that what had happened was probably not right. It should not have happened, not because Deepak was a married man. She hadn't forgotten that in the path that she had decided to tread in life, she had no space for love, for commitment. Aakansha had to be brought up. She was her first priority..

Deepak, on the other hand, lay on his back, contended. He always made Savitha go weak in her knees. His friendship with her was the talk of the town. While the gossip mill worked overtime and people had predicted that they were sleeping with each other, this was the first time they had made love. Despite it being a hurried one, he enjoyed it while it lasted. She was good in bed. He closed his eyes and thought about Savitha, her warm naked body next to his and their high energy love-making a few minutes back. He shook his head, smiled and got up. 'Why did it have to end?' he thought as he walked to the loo.

On his way back home, he called the referee and thanked him for a wonderful drinking session the last evening.

"Thanks, buddy, you were the only one I have met who knows so much about basketball. Otherwise this country is pathetic when it comes to discussing sports.'

'I have the same problem. People behave as if they really like this game but hardly know anything about it. I am happy, Deepak, there is someone with whom I can talk basketball,' the referee said.

'Yes, yes. We must meet more often,' Deepak suggested.

'Why not this evening? I am headed to the club. If you reach there in time, we can also head out for a drink before we pack up.'

After a moment's silence, Deepak responded. 'Done! In any case I am alone and do not know what to do.' He turned his black Scorpio towards the Chembur Sports Club. Thus began a friendship which, they didn't know, would redefine both their lives one day.

R
AJ KUMAR aka Tiger was sitting in his room staring intently at a sheet of paper. His office was on the outskirts of Dantewada district and was reasonably well stocked. Proximity to the district headquarters had helped Tiger make sure his office was always connected with the rest of the world through mobiles and internet.

On the sheet that had caught Tiger's attention were a few telephone numbers and some names with monetary amounts written against them. He looked at the list that ran into pages. There would have been over a thousand names in the list. Flipping through the pages, he checked if there were any errors. He was particularly concerned about the last column. The heading on that column said Amount to be paid'.

'Binayak! Where the hell are you?' He screamed. A few guys scampered around to find Binayak. Some even banged at the toilet door wondering if he was there. Binayak was nowhere to be seen.

Tiger was getting impatient. The list was important. He couldn't afford any screw-up. This was the most critical cog in their wheel. And stupid Binayak had made a blunder! 'Binayak...Binayak!' he screamed. No one knew where he was. There were two other men in the room. 'What are you doing here, staring at my face? Go and find that incompetent fellow!' He howled in Oriya. Tiger's temper was legendary.

Finally someone found Binayak. He was standing outside the thatched hut, at a tea stall, gossiping with some villagers. He was told that Tiger was looking for him and he came running inside.

'Sir, you called me?'

'Idiot. You made this list?' Tiger flung the list at his face. Thankfully one of the sheets landed in Binayak's hand and he looked at it. Nodding in acceptance, he looked at Tiger sorrowfully, 'Is there a mistake, sir?'

'How many times have I told you that the amount can't exceed
50,000?' Tiger barked.

Sir, I checked, none of the figures listed here is more than 50,000.'

'Check again, you fool. I found out three mistakes in the five pages I saw. This can completely derail us. I don't know if you understand how critical this is.' He was beginning to lose his patience. Binayak scutded to his table to re-check. Tiger turned to his left, tapped on the switch that powered his paper shredder and shredded all the pages that Binayak had given him. He had to wait for the new set of papers. He needed to be very careful with the information that was mentioned on the papers. It could not fall in wrong hands, especially the law enforcers. It had the potential to jeopardise their entire mission. It could expose everyone.

Binayak was back in twenty minutes with a fresh set of papers. Tiger looked at them very carefully and then handed them over to Uttam, his right hand man. This time they were in order.

'You know what to do,' he told him. Uttam nodded, took the list and disappeared.

Around the same time, in Somajiguda, a wealthy suburb in distant Hyderabad, Ashok Ghandy was relaxing in his palatial house. It was well past ten at night and he was beginning to feel a bit tired and sleepy. He had an early morning flight to catch, too. The Union Minister for Rural Development and Tribal Welfare had called for a meeting in Delhi and Ashok was representing the cause of the tribals of Andhra Pradesh in that meeting. He put down his working papers, and got up. He poured himself a glass of water from a jug kept on the table and gulped it down slowly, lost in thought, possibly thinking about the next day's meeting. He kept the glass down and was about to retire to his bedroom when the phone rang.

'Hello?'

'Hello, am I speaking to Ashok garu?'

'Speaking.' Ashok Ghandy nodded subconsciously.

'Saar, I am calling from Comrade Tiger's unit?'

'Yes, yes, tell me.'

'Sir, he asked me to give you some numbers.'

"Hmm...ok.'

'Sir, can you please note these numbers down.'

'Wait...wait,' exclaimed Ashok as if suddenly shaken out of his stupor. 'Wait, let me get a pen and paper.' There was a pause for about half a minute before Ashok got back.

'Yes, tell me.'

'Card number 5143 6345 2347 6289. Amount to be paid -
48,000.'

'Ok.' Ashok noted down the numbers.

'Card number 5143...7890 –
42,000, card number 5143...7430 –
49,800, ...card number 5234...5467 –
39,000,' the person on the phone ratded off more numbers.

'Ok, let me repeat the numbers,' Ashok repeated the numbers to check if he had noted correctly.

Yes, sir. It's correct. Thank you.'

'Ok. The needful will be done.'

"Thank you, sir. Please SMS at the other telephone number that you have once the job is done.' And the caller hung up. He was about to dial the next number when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned back. It was Uttam.

'How many to go?' asked Uttam.

'Sir, twenty more calls to be made...I should be done in an hour.'

'Good. We have to finish all the 200 names by tonight.'

The caller returned to making calls. Uttam turned back and headed outside. He had to report the progress to Comrade Tiger.

By then, Ashok Ghandy had peacefully retired to his room and switched off the lights. Lying in his bed, he was thinking of the plight of the tribals and the things the government was doing to alleviate their misery. This also helped him to revise the points he was going to raise in the meeting next day. He was not attending the meeting with any political agenda in mind. He really felt for the cause of the tribals and was supporting them whole-heartedly. His thoughts went back to the previous year when he had successfully led a march from Hyderabad to Delhi garnering both support and contributions for the development of the people residing in far-flung tribal areas. Even though he was from the opposition party in Andhra Pradesh, almost all political parties had put their differences behind and supported him. Such was his persuasive ability and integrity.

Ashok woke up very early the next day. He had a 7 a.m. flight to Delhi and he was at the airport by 5.50 a.m. Just as he was about to get down from the car, he took out a bundle from his bag and gave it to the driver.

'Here, take this.' The driver looked at him and extended his left hand to receive the bundle.

'Uhhh...not this hand,' Ashok reprimanded him.

'Oh...sorry, sir.' The driver then hastily retracted his left hand and stretched his right hand to accept the bundle from Ashok. He opened the glove compartment and shoved the bundle into it. Ashok then dug into his shirt pocket and took out the piece of paper on which he had written the numbers the night before. The driver pocketed that slip and drove away. No words were exchanged. The driver knew what to do. It was a regular practice, which would take place at least once a fortnight.

That afternoon the driver went to the local branch of Citibank and filled out six deposit slips. He went to the teller counter and deposited the cash given by Ashok into the six credit cards whose numbers the caller had given to Ashok the previous night. The amount to be deposited was also mentioned on the slip given by Ashok.

On his return from Delhi late night, Ashok SMSed 'Done' to the other number that he had. He had done this for months together and knew the process.

Late in the night, Binayak logged into internet banking across various banks and checked all the 200 cards whose numbers had been given to a number of people like Ashok Ghandy across the country. Cash had been deposited into 188 of them. Approximately seventy-five lakh of cash had been paid into the 188 cards by people who sympathised with their cause. One of those cards was in the name of Ankush Tandon. The purchase of arms from Ultadanga Kirana and General Store facade in Kolkata had now been fully paid for.