Page 113 - A Banker Down the Rabbit Hole

difficulty as we do not have so much cash to pay in full. So, we request
you some more time to repay and save our reputation in our area."

Now I remembered the whole sequence. We had met the guarantor and
impressed on him to help us get the repayment in this loan account
otherwise he would be in trouble. He had told that the borrowers were
very rich and had big bungalows in Punjabi Bagh and running a transport
business with a very big fleet of trucks financed through banks. He had
suggested that we should go to them and if they do not pay, then only
he as a guarantor was responsible.

We had clarified to the guarantor that he was jointly and severally
responsible for their liability. I asked him whether he owned that house
where we were sitting discussing, to which he replied in affirmative. I had
told him, "The borrowers are rich people; they may prolong the court
case with payment of fees to their lawyers as they have to repay many
loans as disclosed by you. In that case bank would file suit against you
also and try to get your house sold to recover the loan at the earliest.
They would continue enjoying their life and you would lose your only
house you have."

The guarantor understood the gravity of the situation projected by us and
now pleaded with us how could he be saved from all these troubles. I
told him, "You should go there with your wife who is their relative and
impress upon them to repay the loans otherwise you would sit outside
their house without taking any food or water offered by them until you
get a written loan clearance letter from the bank." He was very scared
and the modus operandi I suggested appealed to both husband and wife.

I insisted on the borrower, "At least the overdue should be cleared". They
told that they would deposit Rs. 100,000/- in the account the next day
and another Rs. 100,000/- within next month to clear overdue. But they
wanted me to speak right then to the couple who were on a sort of fast-
unto- death at their house, to save them from the disgrace from other

110 | A Banker down the Rabbit Hole