The business of Banking. Part 3.

http://blog.blogadda.com/2010/03/16/gudi-padwa-special-tangy-indian-blog-posts

...continued.

After waiting for some 15 minutes and watching the crowd go mad in the place I saw someone enter the cabin. I quickly made my way towards the cabin and started to go inside. The peon sharply stopped me and told me that I can’t meet him now. 

I asked, “why”? 

He told, “He has just arrived, so he will now take tea, read newspaper and do various other important jobs. After that I can meet him after taking an appointment”.

I cursed myself for waiting for this moron and also showered some curses on the person who gave me this pay-order instead of cash money. 

“So, how should I take his appointment”, I asked.

“Give me your application in a plain paper”, the peon said.

“What the…”, I stopped and took out a paper and scribbled something in the form of an application and handed over it to him. 

The peon scrutinized the application as if he was proof reading the thing that whether it qualifies to get submitted onto his boss’s table or not. No wonder I was expecting that he would make me write the thing again as by now I totally understood the whole setup. But anyhow, maybe he didn’t understand many a things in the application; he took it inside and kept it under a paper weight without even telling the manager.

When he came out, I asked, “hey, why you didn’t tell him”? 

He said, “don’t worry, he will see to the matter”. 

Matter? Is this a matter now? Maybe when someone applies to manager of a branch stating his problem and desiring to meet that becomes a matter.

Ok, after waiting for some 15-20 minutes the peon called me.

He said, “sahib is calling you”.

I went inside. He didn’t offer me a chair but I sat down.

“So what is your issue”, he asked.

I said, “Sir, I have this pay-order and I want it to get encashed”.

“Then go to counter no. 2, why you are here”.

“I had been there, but they won’t give the money until I have an account”

“Yes, that is of-course needed. How can we give you cash money”?

I thought of asking that is this a trick to get new customer accounts as they are losing customers. But then thought they are not this clever, if they had they would have done it way before.

“But sir, the iit branch told me that I will get the cash from here as it is a pay order”, I said. This time a bit more affirmatively.

“Yes we do give cash for pay-orders but then for it you need someone who has an account in pnb”.

I thought if I get into this account thing now, they will argue till evening and won’t hand over a single penny until I open an account or bring someone with an account in pnb.

I thought to change the discussion tone. Until he sees me as any other customer he won’t do my job. So where should I deviate him. How to deviate him? Ok, one area where he surely will fall, chances are high, where many parents fall, parents of aspiring iit candidates. Yes I should I use my brand name, at-least someday it should come to my rescue.

“You see sir, we have this huge load of studies here in iit and we live in hostels. We bring limited amount of money from home and have to continue with that for the whole semester. We don’t go for these opening of bank accounts and subsequently maintaining them. You know how much time goes in that. See just today I had to miss my class to get this thing encashed as I really need money now”.

The last line made him look towards me raising his head from the files. He gave me looks that seem to ask, “Are you telling the truth boy. Are iit guys this over laden? Then why every alternate weekend you have these events and what not happening in the campus. Who all does these, the profs, I guess not. C’mmon! Stop fooling me and fill this account opening form”.

But he didn’t say anything to me and called mr prakash over the intercom. “Hey, what is the issue of this iit guy? No no, yes yes. Ok, right”.

“Go and take your money”, he told in a rush.

What! I said to myself. I was like jumping from the inside. Controlling my emotions I asked with the same tone, “from where sir”.

“Counter no. 2”, he said.

Ok now let’s see who stops me from taking my 5000 bucks out of this god forsaken bank. I have the direct orders from the manager of the branch. I came out and got in the queue. This time it took less time to crawl up to the counter. The person already knowing me took some mere seconds to hand me a metallic token. 

Now what is this? Where is my money? He said, “This is the token. You have to get the cash from counter no. 6”. “What”, I said. It’s not yet over pal, I said to me. Ok I went over to counter no 6, saw some 25 men standing, I became the 26^th.

Some 20 minutes later I was counting the ten 500 rupee notes handed over to me by counter no. 6. Although the counter guy counted it some three times, two times in the machine and one time manually. I thought is this worth it? Not the money, but the counting, fourth time that I made.