According to Wikipedia a spittoon (or spitoon) is a receptacle made for spitting into, especially by users of chewing and dipping tobacco. But there are people who are pretty intelligent to have their own simplest improvised versions of spittoons. Bakshi is one among them and for him sometimes it is a coffee mug.
In the office, there is a kitchen in every floor with coffee making equipments and a rack of mugs for you to use. You can make your own coffee/tea to have them at your desk and leave the empty ones in the sink for the cleaner to wash them at night.
Most of us love to sip some strong coffee while working but we are least bothered whether the mugs get cleaned thoroughly. But we assume they are clean every time you pull one out of the rack.
Having pan (aka tobacco, pan parag, kaini, gutka) in the client office is a regular habit for Bakshi. Although he is the highest paid unskilled junk resource in that WRSC account, he can't afford to buy a spittoon.
The clients did not take using a coffee mug as a spittoon so easily. He was warned a dozen times but a dog's tail goes bent again as soon as you take your hands off.
Initially he used disposable plastic cups, but spitting in them didn't look so professional to him. So he chose to use the coffee mugs again. Slowly the guys in that floor stopped drinking coffee. No matter how dizzy you are, nobody drinks coffee in that floor anymore. Some guys bought coffee from Costa and Starbucks.
One day, this pindam* (a tail, favorite associate) of Bakshi, who sits next to him bought a tall size "Chai Latte" from Starbucks. Although he paid £2.60 (~ Rs. 180/-), it was worth having something that tasted similar to "bombay cut chai" (a chai that is a little spicy and tasted of cardamom).
He took the first sip out of it and kept it next to his keyboard. That's when the program director (pretty big position with the client) walked into the floor. He walked straight towards Bakshi and looked like he wanted to discuss something important.
There was no coffee mug at Bakshi's desk. There was nothing he could spit into to clear his mouth and be ready for a conversation. He looked around and saw the Starbucks mug. 'Oye!! Mein ye le raha hoon.(I am taking this.)' Bakshi whispered to the associate, took the mug and spit his pan into it. The tail associate was helpless watching the red liquid (a mixture of tobacco, pan and saliva) fell into his new hot Chai. I guess he almost cried.
*Pindam - Please see the entry Wetherspoon Speech
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