This is what it really feels like working in a daaru company

I work for Bacardi.

And it needs a full stop.

For you to comprehend what it means. And for me to do my little happy dance in my heart and say-

I work for Bacardi, a daaru company.

(For the non-Hindi readers, daaru means alcohol)

If I was working here 10 years back and someone in my family had asked me for my employer’s name, I would have given a Lord Voldemort like expression: “He who must not be named”.

But times have changed. People have become more open & receptive (see I didn’t use the word ‘tolerant’) to the idea of working in a Liquor organisation. More than hearing about it, I guess people (read employees) have also become open about sharing it.

When some of my relatives ask what Bacardi does, I generally stick to “Rum” not because this is how it started in 1862 but more for the fact that the word ‘Rum’ has least syllables and so quickest to pronounce & easiest to get away with. Mostly, they can’t it figure out beyond that and don’t ask further (yes friends, I, do have such relatives).

But generally, to the larger population in my network who love to stay happy and high, the two things that I almost every time get when I say the word Bacardi are “a long GRIN” and “possibility of free products”. I love those two expressions, because when I got my offer letter, I too had the GRIN and it grew bigger when I saw “Product Provision” written in the end. Product provision means I get a provision to try out some products (for free) every month. Even after so many months, it continues to excite me since it has variety, unlike my salary (no boss, I don’t want you to change my salary from Quart to Pint to Nip). For people who don’t know these measurement units, it is okay even I didn’t know before joining here.

Now if you are imagining a cubicle with Bacardi Gold Rum and Dewar’s Whiskey shelved all around like medals and certificates of achievements, and me sipping Martini like James Bond and just having a lovely time, then Spoiler alert – My desk looks exactly same as yours, with same laptop, drawers and some files (yeah but with a Grey Goose Vodka bottle for company! Oh come on, of course not- I am just kidding).

I still have a lot of friends who assume that a liquor appreciating person like me would not be doing HR job, but tasting the finest collections all the time, and instead of talking employee performance and engagement levels, I would be having my hands around the shoulders of the senior guys and sharing the after effects of taking the Cazadores Tequila shots and whiling my time away in office. But that’s not why I get paid. So another spoiler. I do love spending time with my Sales teams to understand numbers and progress, and that’s because I am a loyalist.

Lastly, to my friends who call me and hear a tired expression of hello, don’t always assume that I would be high. Like you, I also attend meetings, have deadlines to meet and ppts to make. And that makes me as tired as you get. That, in no way means that I am drunk at work.

Now if you are planning to visit my office for a drink from the house of Bacardi, then my suggestion would be to rather visit my home and not office. Since at office, we treat the visitors the way you treat your visitors in your office: machine coffee/tea or water; getting Bombay Sapphire Gin with tonic water at the reception is truly a far-fetched fantasy!

Drink Responsibly,

Cheers,

Naman

P.S – Hope you noticed how I managed to sneak all my major Bacardi products and told you that it’s just a company at the end of the day. We work here. Hic!

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