It is the first day of the second Test in Chennai between India and Australia. As we take the lift from the fifth floor of HSBC's India headquarters at Fountain, south Mumbai, Niall S K Booker, group general manager and chief executive officer of HSBC, India, asks a colleague the score. His colleague doesn't know, so Booker uses his mobile phone for an update. Australia is 111 for no loss, he tells us.
This passion for cricket, at once so Indian and so British, set the tone for our lunch. I pursued Booker for over a year to accept Business Standard's invitation to a meal "" ever since HSBC announced that it was acquiring a 20 per cent stake in UTI Bank, in fact.
Later, when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) turned down HSBC's application and announced draft guidelines restricting foreign banks' stake in private Indian banks, I renewed my invitation. But it was only last month that Booker accepted so I chose Indigo, a European food eatery near the Gateway of India.
Tendulkar's was the original choice, given his passion for cricket, but I changed when I discovered his partiality to continental cuisine.
Booker has played serious cricket as a teenager at county level. Now he plays serious golf. Following his wife's strictures to choose between the two sports, he has been participating in golf tournaments across the globe "" Japan, the UK, West Asia and closer home in Kashmir.
He's working on maintaining his respectable handicap of 8. "If I could keep it at a single digit and below 10 for the next few years, I will be happy. I don't think I can bring it down more," he says.
But cricket remains an abiding interest, and he is animated about the Indian team, providing a SWOT analysis in the time-honoured fashion of all sports fans. "This Indian team is extremely talented... It can beat any team in the world on its day. But you need to sort out the opening pair."
Booker suggests continuing with Akash Chopra (the selectors obviously did not agree). That's because "both Sehwag and Yuvraj are stroke players".
As for the bowling, he thinks Kumble and Harbajhan are good spinners, but Irfan Pathan needs a pace partner. He is not impressed with medium pacers Balaji and Zahir Khan. Captain Saurav Ganguly is much admired. "He is a very good captain. He supports his key players. He is sympathetic and at the same time aggressive in his approach."
But it is Rahul Dravid who is his favourite cricketer. Booker appeared with him on a CNBC programme called "Master Strokes" where corporate chiefs discuss management techniques with cricketers.
It was, he says, among the most memorable moments of his stay in India. There are others high spots, like watching tigers at Sariska and meeting Rani Mukherjee.
Booker pauses to order a spicy pasta as I interestedly ask about Rani Mukherjee. He met her at a function at the Prince of Wales Museum. "She is so beautiful," he enthuses.
Of other actresses, he singles out Preity Zinta"" "she is beautiful and has a mind of her own" "" and Aishwarya Rai. Of the latter he comments with wry humour, "She could be an interesting lunch time companion."
Coming to India is part of a long-time wish to travel (the other areas being China and south-east Asia), an inevitable result of being the son of a diplomat.
He holds Masters degrees in history and law from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. When he started looking for a job, HSBC proved ideal because the bank was focusing on these regions.
He came to India in July 2002 as deputy chief executive officer and took over as CEO in November of that year, and the country has clearly fascinated him. "India is a vibrant democracy. Look at the last elections.
I have never seen such a peaceful transition of power. Nobody filed appeals in the Supreme Court. Atal Bihari Vajpayee conceded defeat so gracefully and Sonia Gandhi did not accept the prime minister's job. Then, you have different individuals contesting from Bihar and Orissa...." it is quite difficult to stop the flow.
Recalling his enthusiasm for sportsmen and Bollywood, I ask him whether India is mostly play rather than work. "Certainly not, there is a lot of work and not much play. I am not a typical page 3 guy, you know. I finish my work late, go home, read a book over a glass of wine or a peg of whisky."
Of course I am teasing, well aware of his plight as HSBC India CEO. The RBI sat on the bank's proposal to acquire 19.52 per cent in UTI Bank for months and finally allowed it 14.62 per cent "" that too with riders.
Booker is not bitter but he thinks greater consistency in policy would help. So did he think foreign banks lacked a level playing field in India?
"If a level playing field is too much to ask, you can at least have a policy without constant changes. You give us the freedom to choose between a branch or subsidiary in India and then you say we cannot have more than a 5 per cent state in a local bank. Why do you want to penalise a bank that has been here for 150 years?"
He uses a cricket analogy to suggest that a dialogue with the central bank would help.
"We never question the sovereign right to determine the role a foreign bank should play. It's like an umpire's decision on a cricket pitch. But in cricket the umpire has the benefit of the third umpire. Maybe the regulator needs to take a look at this issue."
But was it true that HSBC informed the RBI only after striking the deal? That provokes him: "Let me make it clear that we had to be very careful about the deal. Any information on it could have had a huge impact on the UTI Bank price. We outlined the structure of the deal and the regulator gave its consent. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board also approved it but then the RBI took another look at it and changed its mind. It has every right to so but it did not help the cause of FDI. It could have said no to us in the first place."
So there was nothing wrong with HSBC's decision to inform the regulator after signing the deal?
"The trade-off was between market sensitivity and telling the regulator in advance. As I have said, the RBI could have said no to it. There is nothing wrong with the deal as you have noticed there has been no Sebi investigation," he points out.
So does he consider it a failure? "Not at all. We got 75 per cent of what we asked for [14.62 per cent of 20 per cent] and it's a financial success. We took the lead [in acquiring a stake in a local bank]. Maybe we have made mistakes but no regrets," he concludes, polishing off the pasta.
We chat a bit about HSBC's India operations. What was India's contribution to HSBC's global balance sheet? "It is less than 1 per cent of the global book."
But no, HSBC was not planning to go the Citibank way and target the middle class, though it planned to spend a lot more on marketing, branding and expanding distribution.
What about the India story? How strong is it? "The India story is like the Indian cricket team "" it swings from one extreme to other. As an outsider, I am optimistic about the trajectory of reforms but less optimistic about the time frame.
There could be problems with the coalition government. Dr Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, their hearts are in the right place but can they execute?"
Booker declines dessert in favour of a cappuccino, as I ask him about his love for the tiger, his favourite animal. "It dates back to my childhood. My father gave me a stuffed tiger. My younger son still has that," he says.
Interestingly, he has always seen tigers in the wild, never in a zoo. "They are dangerous and you can't get close to them. At the same time, they are majestic like West Indian batsman Clive Lloyd in his prime. There is so much grace and athleticism. I love them because they are never in a pack. A tiger is always alone, fiercely independent," he says.
Has he seen India? "Not fully. I am yet to see the backwaters of Kerala and the Majuligarh Tea Estate in Assam," he says. Like many expatriate Britons, Booker has a connection with India's centuries-old tea business.
"My grandfather was the manager of the estate for five years between 1932 and 1936." So four generations of Bookers have been in India. He loves every bit of it, though he rushes to Ireland every summer where his home is on the sea and 10 minutes from the golf course.
As we leave, I ask him how he manages this healthy combination of high voltage banking and hobbies. "I don't try to manage things over which I have no control. I don't lose sleep over these things," is his answer. Australia has lost seven wickets as we lunched.
"Didn't I tell you Kumble and Harbhajan are really good spinners?" he grins. It was a pity we couldn't have discussed the outcome of that Test in more detail.
