The Leh journey had started and I
was just experiencing the ups and downs of the cold desert. The initial days
were really captivating. On one hand I was facing the wrath of changed climate
while as on the other hand the Leh beauty was just full of sensuality,
attracting me towards it and asking me to flow through its lap. The climate was
actually gaining an upper hand here. The harsh climate was taking toll on my
health. I was experiencing constant cough and no drug could cure it. The cough
had become so chronic that i had been carrying the medicine continuously with
me from office to the residence and back. It was an impact of high altitude
sickness which is usually associated with low pressure areas. Doctors advised
me the ethylated spirits but being a teetotaller it never interested me. Nevertheless
this continued for next six months and there was no letup to the prevailing
cough. At the same time, i was continuously putting in my efforts as the Loan
Manager. The profile of Loan manager is challenging considering the fact that
the credit appraisals are always daunting and need extra amount of care and due
diligence. If Banking is a stressed job then the Loan manager is always the hulk of
it. Still the life just rolled on. I was getting constant reminders from the
Branch Manager for continuous improvement of the portfolio. The time but was
running out since the winters were approaching. I was giving my best of the
efforts working from 9 to 9 even providing support to my branch manager on his
day to day chores. Yet the efforts were not getting rewarded.
Kamal had in the meantime landed
and also got adjusted to the new climate. We were sharing the room together and
our union had once again started rolling. His presence was giving me a lot of
support and the office fatigue was getting removed thanks to his being there
with me. Our way of looking at Banking was almost similar but i feel he was
still a better manipulator than me. I would always call a spade spade only and
this attitude always created ruckus in my life.
Leh being the epicentre of
tourism always attracted our top echelons to the areas. The higher management
would invariably visit the place and so we had to be ever ready with our maths
all the time. I had the privilege to welcome our General Manager to the branch.
The branch was lit up with lot of additional publicity materials thanks to my
marketing mind. While it was all my brainchild, but the whole credits were
taken by someone else. I was using my mind and he was using his mind-games.
This was utterly frustrating. I had a wonderful interaction with the General Manager
and I could see that the level was interaction was quite fascinating atleast
from my side. The GM asked me certain queries and I could easily answer all of
them. Still i felt the finesse was missing somewhere and this could have been
due to certain perception mapping issues.
8th Nov 2016- the
demon of demonetisation arrived and we were left in lurch. The whole momentum
was disturbed as the next fifteen days were absolutely critical. The government
had announced withdrawal of currency notes from the system and the bankers had
to make this a success. We did it with sheer brilliance and complete support to
the initiative but with a small glitch which is worth sharing here. As the
fresh currency arrived from airways, the IB followed us only to goof up that
due to certain hushing up of currency, an advisory to the local police authorities
should have been shared with. This led to unnecessary harassment and we had
made an important learning here.
As the winter set in, the access
to Ladakh got blocke.The challenge of our connectivity to the outside world
kept on increasing. This challenge was however lesser than the one that was
slowly building up in. The Lasermo Challenge.
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