You will soon be getting a new Boss, boomed my Big Boss, over the phone, all the way from the US of A.  But, I began in earnest, determined to be the argumentative Indian, when BB hung up on me. Grrr, I growled to myself as I rapidly spread the news around. Soon, the office hummed as its inmates tried to conjure up new ways of sucking up to the new boss.  Over the week we learned that our future superior was indeed superior to all of us poor desis, having lived & worked for more than 15 years in Canada, he had condescended to honour us with his presence because one fine morning he had suddenly cried out ‘Mere Paas Ma Nahin Hai’ and realized that Mommy dearest had no intention of leaving the black hole of Calcutta for the greener Canadian pastures.

The D-day dawned at last. I reached office early by an hour in order to ensure that everything was in the state of readiness for His Highness, the Head Honcho. After assuring myself that all was well, I resigned to my cubicle for checking my mails. A loud commotion outside saw me running towards the source. A giant of a man was speaking to the office boy in rapid British accented English whereas the boy was gesticulating violently, his entire repertoire of English(consisting of Yes, No & Very Good), having been long exhausted. I hurriedly introduced myself and showed him to his room. A quick glance earned me a grunt of approval and I snatched the opportunity to offer him a cup of tea or coffee. Tea? Coffee? He looked bewildered. You know, I always have a glass of warm milk in the morning, he said forlornly. Will it be possible to arrange for it? He asked. I promptly tumbled out of the room, itching to enquire  whether I would have to arrange for a feeding bottle as well.   

Peace reigned for an hour or two. I left HH(head honcho for all u ignorant people)J to get acquainted with the techies and tried to sort out my work.  Crash! Bang! Crash! The sounds reverberated round the room. I ran towards the workstation and found HH lying prostrate on the feet of our junior most techie-Rajeev. The other guys just stood around, their faces turning all shades of purple with suppressed laughter. The chair had apparently decided to commit suicide after having to bear his weight. Many willing & some unwilling hands helped him up. The chair is not working, he announced firmly before limping back to his room.

* To be continued*