Shilpa Gupta - Double or Quits

Advance praise for the book

Shilpa has done a very engrossing narrative of capturing the contradictions and compulsions that so many face in their personal and professional lives. Through Jyotsnas journey, she brings out the constant struggle to find the right balance between emotions and practicality, aspirations and values, short term gains and sustainable life. She has deep insight of the corporate dynamics and hence to label Double or Quits as a work of fiction will be fictitious. There are the chilling realities, however unreal they may appear. Very interesting reading, coming straight from the heart, and one which will keep the reader hooked till the very end.

Mr. Pradeep Bhargava, Director, Cummins India Ltd.

Fast, real, gripping, this ones a stunner. Double or Quits sweeps the reader along with unusual narrative force and insight, bringing alive unforgettable characters and hard-hitting situations. This is no typical story of winning and losing it is about going down and springing back with life on our side.

Mr. Randhir Khare, Author/Poet; Director, Gyaan Adab

Published by Jaico Publishing House
A-2, Jash Chambers, Sir Phirozshah Mehta Road
Fort, Mumbai - 400 001
www.jaicobooks.com

Shilpa Gupta

DOUBLE OR QUITS
ISBN 978-81-8495-965-9

First Jaico Impression: 2017

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

To Mom
My role model
Your love and blessings mean the world to me

ONE

FORTIFIED WITH NICOTINE AND caffeine, I worked at a furious pace. Close to midnight, I began drafting the mail to be sent to Aryan Sahani, the rising star on corporate Indias radar and already a billionaire. Mr. Sahani was the promoter of Sahani Hospitals, a privately held company that was seeking listing on the stock exchanges through the Initial Public Offering (IPO) route. My company, Clifford & Morrison a leading Investment Bank, had pitched for the IPO mandate and the work had, unfortunately, fallen into my lap.

I say unfortunately because Mr. Sahani, although very sexy, was a top-of-the-line sexist. When we first met in Delhi, he had taken great pleasure in humiliating me in front of our teams. Me Jyotsna Singh! the top-rated healthcare analyst on Dalal Street! Writing the mail meant that I had to swallow my pride, but with the high fee and the prestige riding on this IPO mandate for my firm, I couldnt afford not to. So, I gritted my teeth and hit the keyboard.

Dear Mr. Sahani,

Please accept my apologies for the oversight in my valuations during the presentation yesterday. I have re-worked the numbers, pricing in your assumptions. The IPO valuation for Sahani Hospitals goes up to Rs. 220 per share as against the Rs. 80 per share that I had presented yesterday.

I request you to give the Clifford & Morrison team another chance to make a presentation with the revised numbers for the IPO. I am confident that you will not be disappointed.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,
Jyotsna

Saving the draft to send it on later, I shut down the laptop and left the office. Honestly, at Rs. 220 per share, Sahani Hospitals seemed a bit overvalued to me, but we just had to win the mandate. (Otherwise, it would land in the lap of Lewis Capital, our arch rivals who would not be shy of resorting to any trick to get the mandate and with whom I had a bit of history!) Would it work? Possibly. At this price, Sahani was unlikely to turn us down as it would help him raise a few hundred crores more from the public while issuing the same number of shares.

Just before I turned in, I hit the send button. It was almost 2am. Surely, he would notice the time and be impressed. The grovelling left a bitter taste in my mouth, but I wanted my company to win, and I wanted a fat bonus too!

As it turned out, I was right. The mail was game changing. Manish Bansal, Head of Investment Banking (IB), rang me up next morning. In his clipped Oxford accent, he told me to polish my numbers and presentation.

Mr. Sahani called and said he was giving us another chance. He wants only you and Nitin this time. I wonder what made him change his mind.

Did the male chauvinist think it below his dignity to send me a direct reply? I wondered, annoyed. But I could almost touch that eight-digit bonus cheque and was excited to be back in the game. With the bonus, I could buy my dream apartment in Cuffe Parade. For someone who had grown up in a dingy one bedroom flat in the unfashionable suburbs of East Delhi seeing her mother scraping out a living, it meant a lot.

I flew down to Delhi with Nitin Mehta, my batch mate from IIM-A who had joined Clifford & Morrison with me. Tall, fair, with a toned body and steel grey eyes, Nitin was quite the heartthrob at the campus, but he always stayed aloof.

This time round, Aryan Sahani himself was at the lobby to welcome us. Dressed in formals, he resembled a young George Clooney. Aryan seemed to fit in the stereotypical good-looking-guy-whos-a-snob category. Our eyes met and he flashed me a smile . Of course he would smile, after all, he had got his way. He covered the room in long strides.

Morning, pleased to see you both, he said smoothly.

Morning, Nitin replied.

I just nodded; I was still smarting from the last meeting. I didnt want to indulge in pleasantries and draw this out. The faster we could wrap this up, the better. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he looked at me, there was barely concealed amusement lurking there as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.

The handshake was surprisingly warm and firm.

Hope you had a comfortable flight. This way please, he gestured and indicated us to follow him. If I was meeting him for the first time, I probably would have thought of him as a warm and pleasant person.

We were seated in the conference room in the same manner as last time the team from Sahani Hospitals on one side and Nitin and I at the other. After a quick round of coffee and talk on stock markets, Mr. Sahani said, I understand youve reworked the numbers based on our last discussion. Could we just have the presentation on valuations today? I believe we covered the rest the last time.

Okay! This was going to be the make or break presentation. I crossed my fingers and started without any fanfare, focusing mainly on the changes I had made. After I finished, I left the last summary slide on the screen and invited questions. Sahani commented after a moments pause, This is, no doubt, much closer to the truth.

I let out a sigh of relief.

However, there still are gaps in your assumptions, he went on, and I wondered if it was too early to relax.

I suggest that you stay back for a day to get a better perspective about us. Maybe visit our facilities and speak to the doctors. Meet our staff and check the latest technology and equipment we have at our hospitals.

Despite my earlier misgivings about Sahani, I was happy with this suggestion of his. It made sense. For me, this would be a great learning experience and also give more face time with the client. And for Sahani, it would be a chance to showcase the hospital and people. I turned to Nitin for agreement, but was surprised to see his lips thin with displeasure. I wondered what could possibly trouble him about this arrangement.