Meet Guruji

I cannot speak his name because I am unworthy of that sacred honour.

But I woke up this morning to an unstated truth. I was not doing enough in my humble way as a minion, a cog in the wheel in Guruji's chariot of life and work. It is true that he will never know me among the multitudes that shall soon throng to try and imbibe from him the deep secrets of steadily snaking up ladders that have seen more people tumble down than climb laboriously up. But there he is, climbing still...nay...floating his way up to the very top. And if I can share the knowledge of his existence, share with some the amazing story of a man that talks only of the biggest deals -- the zeroes raining down suffixed to the figures that he casually throws at the unsuspecting.

There is not a soul that can honestly recount what project or assignment Guruji has ever completed successfully and not run into the ground before abandoning completly to begin afresh. And each time he rises like the pheonix from the bitter ashes of a failed yesterday -- stronger, richer, and kicked up to the next level.

Guruji is Vice-President at a company that prides itself as a superbrand. An industry leader. So? You will ask. Vice-Presidents are crawling out of the woodwork nowadays. Ah, but not at this place. And it has already been some months since he made VP. Believers like I have no doubt that he shall soon be promoted. It is time for change in his cycle of things.

A decade ago, he was, well no one knows where. One faithful swears he had last seen him as a tourist guide in the jungles of Africa. No one can really pinpoint that moment when Guruji morphed into a corporate being. But there he was one day, as celestial beings are wont to appear, unannounced, and there has been no stopping him since.

His rise up the corporate ladder is well-documented. His humungous out-of-turn increments, his "official" trips abroad are talked about in hushed, admiring tones. To the uninitiated and the very young and unimportant he is the man who sports hair and moustache in a different hue -- mostly various shades of orange -- every week and who walks in quick measured steps around the building after lunch. Other times he walks in slow measured steps all over greeting people and generally filling the hours of the day.

He sits among the highest echelons. Started four floors below and floated his way up to the executive floor. His cabin stark save a summoning bell harking back to the days PSU babus had peons sitting on tall stools right outside the rooms and a red neon blazing over the closed door to signal sahib was busy.

That is Guruji for you, a subtle man. You know who his current boss is only from the fact that Guruji will spend a better part of the working day in that man or woman's cabin. His current area of work -- devout disciples know it's corporate strategy now -- is a well-kept secret. The only thing that you know is that when Guruji speaks at a meeting he does not open his mouth to propose anything less than a Rs 300-crore project. It is another matter that he then expects the rest to implement. Mark of a great man.

This blog is dedicated to the aura of the man. A few of us, mere mortals, can only gasp from afar in admiration as he gets kicked up to the next level for doing not a thing all year round. Ah to learn at his feet.

Jai Guruji.