Execs play ball with recession theories

The 39-year-old German expatriate turned out for his bank for the fourth year in succession. “It is always great fun to play. It gets you out of the office and makes me do something about my rotting muscles,” Rathmann added. His Indian wife Shaheen and three-month-old daughter Stephanie were also there to watch him.

“Apart from playing, I get to interact with thejunior staff. And that is better for the business. It makes the office hierarchy much flatter, and the staff usually tells you things they would never mention in the office.

Indian companies are very structured, and when you get higher, it takes longer to reach you. As an expatriate, I also have a skin gap to overcome,” Rathmann said.

On the field, Banker’s Trust, the sixth largest investment banker in the US, was taking on HongKong Bank. The match tied, HongKong wanted to settle the issue by tossing the coin. Banker’s, which has the largest cheering contingent, insisted on a penalty shoot-out, citing World Cup rules! Two shies by the Banker’s went wide, drawing light curses from their cheering squad.

“This is rigged. Dismal,” they laughed. Gautam Idnani, VP — institutional banking, led the dressing down. Asked why he didn’t play, he said cheerfully, “The captain didn’t trust me. He told me he wanted to win this time.” Unlike Rathmann, Idnani chose to take a dig at the recession. “Ourperformance has been better. We registered 200 per cent growth. Unimaginable for the financial sector these days.” In the foyer, KG Satheesan, HR head of Pennzoil, was giving himself a liberal dose of sprain quickspray. “We have lost both league matches, so we can sit in the sidelines and criticise the others,” he joked. “Family and friends have also turned up to see how bad we are,” he added.

As if to prove his point, Martha Carvalho drew within our vision. The Morgan Stanley asset management executive had travelled from Bandra to see her team perform. “I just came to cheer our team. What if we lost? We put the best foot forward.”