Workplace Bachchan

He was tall, and he had broad shoulders. He puffed up his hair, and he could talk endlessly even if there was no particular topic he was discussing. He exuded confidence in his deep voice and had got style in everything he did. That's why when we first came across him, his close resemblance to our bollywood superstar immediately earned him the title of Workplace Bachchan.

He enjoyed discussions. May be because he loved his own voice. He found perfect company in Bob (changing name to hide identity). Bob enjoyed discussions as well. Together, they spent hours discussing about every topic in the world. They talked about technology, economics, politics and about current affairs. Even though some people got irritated by this non-stop chat, we kind of started enjoying them, just like Kamal Hassan gets used to the film dialogue in Pushpak. We waited for him to get in in the morning and mesmerize us with his husky voice and magnetic personality. And, they eagerly waited for each other.

Then, Bob left. It got quiet all of a sudden. Bachchan started sitting quietly in his corner and talked to his computer instead, but something was eating him inside. He didn't care about his hair any more and often showed up without shaving, wearing shorts. Clearly, he missed talking to Bob. More than he, we missed their conversations. We were no longer able to focus on our work. The silence disturbed us. At the moment, when we thought we couldn't tolerate it any longer, God showed pity on us and sent Bill (fake name). We liked him right from the beginning as well. He was a very nice person but he had difficulty setting himself up with his new project, and since he sat next to Bachchan, he started asking questions, and this was how started another round of long discussions, but this time the topics were limited to technology only. We didn't mind. We never cared about the content of his talk anyway. We just wanted to hear that dark, deep, confident voice that brought warmth to our world and made life worth living. Life was beautiful again.

Bachchan often became part of our own conversations. While discussing our future plans, We thought how we could achieve the aura that he had. Could we go for some kind of surgery to get the kind of husky voice he had? What would we do about the height though? His manner of speaking was something we would have to learn, as well. Any growth plans that we thought of, we always said that no matter what, if we wanted to climb up the corporate ladder, we had to learn how to talk like him.

Just when things were getting back to normal, the bad news came. He was rolling off the project. We just couldn't understand why. This was an exciting new project that everybody wanted to work on. Why would a smart person like him let go of such an oppportunity. It so happended, that the decision was made by someone else for him. That was an eye opener. We kept thinking that he was a smart guy who had authority on each and every topic under the sun. We just couldn't understand how he could have made any mistake at all. And how could have anyone not gotten impressed by such a heavy personality. But the sun had set. He moved on and we tried to limp on as well.

The other day, I saw him sitting on the bar in the office kitchen eating his sandwich. He looked paler, leaner, and his hair was not that puffy anymore (ok, he had a haircut), and his voice wasn't the most dominant amongst the other speakers. Was this the end of Bachchan I thought? Perhaps, this was only the beginning of a long journey. Somehow, I knew in my heart that my hero would rise again and once again prove himself.

He is after all Bachchan.