We don’t know what they actually need, want and desire

Whatever I wanted in my life, it has never happened and whatever happened was beyond my imaginations and expectations. Things, which I could not even think of even in my dream, it came true and confronted me without giving me any chance or choice to think over it.

The naked truth of my life was looking straight into my eyes without blinking an eyelid and I was simply watching it helplessly because I was having no choice either and I was forced to accept the same as a verdict of my destiny.

Right from my childhood I was fond of reading and writing. I always wanted to become a writer and a story-teller but I became a hardcore product-seller and a salesman whose primary job was to please the clients by providing them with the best of products and services.

In the sales profession, client’s happiness comes first and self help comes last. The first lesson which is being imparted to every salesman is to understand the customer’s requirements first and his existence was directly linked with the survival of his “Client”. They were taught from the beginning that the Client is a real “King” and they have to do every thing possible to please the client at all cost and at the end of the day, they have to make the client very happy with the products and services they offered.

As a matter of fact, it was very difficult to understand whether the client actually needed those products/ services or not, moreover, it was not any salesman’s purgative also to know about it. Because they can’t be judgmental, at the end of the day, it’s their profession, responsibility and prime duty to perform accordingly, on prime-fascia.

The job of a professional sales person used to be first creating an environment and developing the need, want and desire amongst their prospective customer/clients and thereafter offer them the right product-mix and services to fulfill those need, want and desire in totality.

If we look back and evaluate the buying process with an x-ray eyes, we will come to know that in many cases the actual need was never established fully at the first place and due to over-selling the sales transaction has been made and it was the direct impact of the Third-P of the Marketing-mix (Product, Price, Promotion and Place) which resulted in wrong-sales.

The today's professional salesmen are actually very intelligent, clever and smart and they go out of their way to satisfy the customer’s ego, hunger, thirst and requirement/s by fulfilling all their demands which have been created by the market dynamics.

They offer them a solution, which is in the interest of both the parties and hence the deal is stuck between them and on the face of it, the same was favouring the client, but if we go deep down and analyze, we will find out that this need may not be there at the first place and every thing was an illusion which was artificially created by the sales environment to fulfill the need, want and desires of the customer.

In the beginning, the said salesman used to feel guilty of over/wrong selling but after repeating the said act again and again with the clients, he becomes an expert enough to even fool himself. He also has started living in the same illusions that the need was actually their hence he is not guilty for the said act.

But deep down in his heart, when he really start thinking about his clients, he becomes very impulsive, uneasy and uncertain of his acts and deeds because he has never treated his clients as a human beings at the first place and throughout his professional life the client remains a customer only, nothing more nothing less and the same client is only a via-media of achieving his pre-set sales target/goals and he is not at all bother or worried to know what the client actually needed, wanted and desired in his life.

But I know for sure, life is more than selling and buying, although it's easier said than done.

With Prayers,

Gurcharan

Life is not mathematics; it’s unpredictable

The Mumbai city was flooded with rain-water, traffic was in deep mess, nothing was moving and on top of it, all the local and long route trains were stopped on the way. Besides, the domestic flights were also cancelled for indefinite period.

I was stuck in the city from the previous night. I was coming back from Pune after attending my quarterly sales meet and wanted to go back to Calcutta by late evening flight but I could not do so because I missed my flight due to late arrival at the airport. Thereafter, I decided to catch Gitanjali express train to Calcutta in the morning.

Luckily, I got the reservation in AC-II tier coach in Gitanjali express train, which leaves Mumbai's V.T. Station at six in the morning but was delayed due to the heavy rain. The rain had probably decided not to stop until the whole city was submersed.

Therefore, I decided to wait at the station itself and I proceeded towards platform number one from where Gitanjali express train was scheduled to depart. I sat on the long chair which was vacant at that point of time. Except for the coolies, nobody else was around. I had just started reading my book (I was carrying with me), when someone interrupted my reading and asked in Bengali “Excuse me sir, Howrah train would come at this platform?” Instead of replying to him, I put my own question to her: “Which Train?” She replied: “Gitanjoly Express”. Before I could confirm to her, the cooly carrying her belongings had already kept her luggage on the ground and left colleting his dues.

She was in her mid-thirties, slim, smart, tall and very fair looking beautiful woman. She was wearing plain cotton sari with red border which was almost wet with the rain water. Somehow, I could not hold myself and offered her small fresh towel to make herself dry. In reciprocation, she opened a flask, poured two cups of tea and offered me one hot cup of tea along with biscuits.

Meantime, the announcement was made that Gitanjali express would leave in the evening. We first became very happy but sad thereafter because it’s only eleven in the morning and we had to wait for another 5-6 hours on the platform before boarding our train.

I requested her to keep an eye on my luggage and went out to bring some food for us. It took me more than half an hour to bring the food, soft drinks and tea from a nearby market because most of the hotels near the station were closed. With great difficulty, I managed food from a restaurant and her flask came handy for carrying hot tea for us.

She was looking worried, tensed and almost in tears when she saw me, before I could explain the reason of my delay, she started shouting at me as if I was her slave. Some how, I could not control myself and smiled at her, which further irritated her and all of a sudden she started hitting me with both her hands, and then, she put her head on my chest and broke down. Her face was full of tears and she was uttering few unfinished words in Bengali with great difficulty.

Lots of people, who were sitting at the platform, started watching this drama and whispering to each other in soft voices, which could be heard by all of us without any problem: “It’s their problem let them fight and others should mind their own business.”

I am sure my co-passenger had also heard the above statement; suddenly, she became very calm, quite and serious, as if, nothing had happened between us. She very politely said "sorry" to me and then gave me the justification of her anger.

She felt, as if I have started eating out alone and avoiding her company but when she saw me coming with lots of food packets she could not control herself and she bursted out on me with her suppressed anger, but in-between she almost forgot one thing that I was nobody to her, I was a stranger, who happened to be at the platform at that point of time, thanks to the unstoppable rain and would leave her on arrival at our destination; leaving everything behind, that too, without any guarantee of any future meeting between us.

Almost an hour had passed since that unpleasant incident but nobody uttered a single word, we ate our food in silence without feeling any taste as if we were simply filling our stomach although the need was not there but we were simply avoiding eye contacts with each others, putting everything inside without giving much thought to it.

Her silence was quite disturbing and I was seriously thinking about today’s episode, what have I done that had irritated her so much that she became so angry, violent and nervous. I didn’t know how I had developed a soft corner for her. She reminded me of my very close childhood friend whom I lost in my early life. She is not at all like her but her tantrum had reminded me of someone whom I loved the most. She died at the very young age of twenty-one due to severe asthma attack.

As expected she started unfolding herself with lots of pain which could be seen on her face. And finally she exploded “Sir, you know, he had left me and wanted me to divorce him at all cost. He is not ready to give me one more chance to save our marriage because he has already selected another companion, with whom he is living and last night he brought her home, you see. I could not tolerate this act of shame and his guts when he introduced her as his "would be wife".

Tell me Sir, for how long a woman can tolerate her husband’s atrocity, beating, injustice, torchers and bad words about her family, and why? I am PhD. in Physic and working as a Professor earning fairly good salary but what will I tell about our broken marriage to my parents? They all think that I am happily married and enjoying my married life with a very successful (B.TECH+MBA+MNC employed) husband. 

Now I have realized why she was so angry on me, it was her last night’s incident which had forced her to release her anger; when she saw me coming late from market, she could not hold herself any longer and bursted out with volcano of her pain, furiously.

Our train started at seven in the evening. We were sitting facing each other on side-lower seats. On the face of it, she was looking quite comfortable, relaxed and relieved from all her pain, problem and tension; but deep down, she was worried and desperately looking for a solution to her problem. And at other side, I was thinking, why our lives are so complicated and wondering: “Life is not mathematics; it’s unpredictable.”

With Prayers

Gurcharan

SAMARPAN

I was sitting at the airport lounge and reading my favourite book; when an announcement was made for the further delay of my flight to Pune by another two hours, due to bad whether conditions. Monsoon had just arrived at Delhi and the flight services became the first victim of this late monsoon, as usual.

I had no option left but to wait at the airport. I was sure that my prospective client would understand the reason of such an unavoidable delay, which was actually beyond my control. I had planned to return to Delhi by the late evening flight, after meeting with the said client, but now it seems, I have to stay for a night at Pune Hotel.

I immediately conveyed this message to my Pune client and to my Boss at Gurgaon office, so that he was kept updated on my outdoor movements. Later, I told my wife also about the flight delay. Before I could speak to her, she asked me a question: “Have you reached Pune?” I replied to her in a very low voice: “No, I am still at Delhi-Airport, because my flight has been delayed”. After disconnecting the mobile, once again I started concentrating on my book.

I felt as if someone was watching me with very sharp eyes, when I lifted my head from the book, I saw one fair looking elderly person of foreign origin in a white ‘Kurta-pyjama’, standing opposite my chair and smiling. I immediately jumped to my feet and greeted the foreign guest with both my hands folded and said: “Namaste” and to my utmost surprise, he also responded by bowing his head and said: “Namaste.” After exchange of greetings, I offered him a chair next to me, which was vacant. He sat down and said with a broad smile: “Dhanayvaad.”

Few minutes later, I again looked at him and said: “Sir, are you alright?” Because, he was still staring at me and smiling, which made me upset, irritating and unnecessarily annoyed? He spoke to me in a very strong and deep voice: “I was wondering, the flight to Pune may get cancelled, so why don’t you go via Mumbai, because there are umpteen numbers of flights to Mumbai and sooner or later, one would definitely fly.”

I became suspicious, how he knew that I was going to Pune, and before I could think further, he satisfied my curiosity by offering his reply to my unanswered question: “I have heard you when you were talking to your wife; that’s how I came to know that you are also flying to Pune.”

Now I became very alert of his movements. Meanwhile I tried to concentrate on my book without any success. Thereafter, I was compelled to start my conversation with this old man who was sitting next to me but in spite of my very strong desire, I could not speak to him immediately, because he had by then closed both his eyes and was reciting shlokas in sanskrit.

He was reciting “Maha Mrityunjay Mantra”. And I was totally amazed, surprised and stunned to hear his clear, correct and right pronunciations of Mantras. After repeating the Mantra five times, he stopped, opened his sea-blue eyes, looked at me with a smile and asked - “Have I frightened you?” And before I could respond, he said again: “Don’t be afraid, nothing will happen to you, trust me.”

After long discussions of one and a half hours between us, I came to know that this old man was the owner of five billions US-Dollars company, based at New York City of USA, had come to India six months ago to take his daughter back home. But his daughter insisted him to visit the most beautiful places in India before returning to USA, which included: Dehradoon, Haridwar, Hemkunt sahib, Kochin, Kanyakumari, Lonawala, Mahabaleshwar, Nainital, Rishikesh, Srinagar, Shimla, Solan and Trivandrum. He came back from Rishikesh last night and that day morning he was going to Pune to meet his daughter, who was living in an Ashram there. He had bought a small house near Dehradoon where he was planning to spend rest of his life.

With regards to his company, he had divided his entire wealth in four equal parts; one part each goes to his wife, son and daughter respectively and the balance 25% of his share would be transferred to various religious Trusts in India in due course of time.

However, his daughter had refused to take her shares. That’s the reason why he was going to Pune, so that he could meet with her and request her to accept her share of wealth, as a token of his love and affection, which she could spend the way she wished.

Listening to his story, I was so stunned and turned like a statue that I could not speak a word to him. I was wondering whether this old man belonged to this world or he had come from heaven. I had never ever seen or heard someone giving his entire wealth to his family and Trusts and not keeping anything for himself.

Suddenly, the meaning of the word ‘SAMARPAN’ dawned on me and I realized its true meaning i.e. cent per cent Surrender to His Master.

Meanwhile, the announcement for the departure of Pune flight was made and we both started walking towards the Security-check.

With Prayers

Gurcharan

Girls are more loving & caring but it’s rather very difficult to get them suitably married & settled

I left my client’s office at 8.30 P.M. and was driving back home when a call came on my mobile from an unlisted number. However, I put the mobile phone on speaker mode and started talking. The caller was one Mr. Rajbir Singh from Patiala and he was talking about his son’s marriage proposal with my daughter. He said his son was an IT-Engineer with a MBA degree, working in a multi-national company at Chennai as a Manager and earning around Rs. 75,000 per month. I was not very keen in the said discussion because my daughter wanted to continue with her studies for the time being.

Meanwhile, the caller also gave me the reference of a very dear friend of mine from Chandigarh from whom he got my number. Hearing this, I stopped my car at the road side corner and started talking to him in detail. After long discussion, I ended the conversation by saying that I will revert back to him, after consulting the matter with my family.

Back home, after dinner while going to bed, I told my wife about the marriage proposal received over phone for our daughter. In the beginning, she was much exited but later became emotional and all of a sudden, her eyes were filled with tears. I was wondering if these tears were for happiness or sorrow.

We were very happy the day our daughter was born; she was so beautiful, very fair and looked like an angel who was the blessing of the God Almighty, as if it was only yesterday and today we were talking about her marriage. Time flies so fast, why my Lord, why?

Next day morning, I told my little angel about the marriage proposal we received for her. She patiently listened to me and said at the end, “Papa, I am in no mood to get married now, I have just started my career as a school teacher and have to continue with my studies. Only after getting a PhD. degree, I would get married, I promise” and she closed the topic.

I was taken aback, as it meant I will have to wait for another three to four years for her marriage. Wasn't it too long a period, I wondered. Then I thought, she could continue with her PhD. studies even after marriage, if the boy gave his consent. We could talk to them in the beginning itself and only if they agreed; we would go ahead. Otherwise we would say 'no' to them, there is no big deal. We tried our best to convince our daughter to meet with the prospective groom at least and discuss each and every point in detail before taking any final decision. May be, the boy could accommodate and would allow her to continue with her studies after marriage. After lot of explanation and persuasion, we finally could convince her to meet with the boy’s family.

Meanwhile, we exchanged the bio-data and photographs and it seemed to be alright. So, we decided to visit Patiala and meet with the family of Mr. Rajbir Singh. We found them very civilized, decent, good and down to earth family. On the face of it, everything seemed to be good and perfect, as if, the Almighty had architected a “made for each other" couple.

Somehow, from inside, I was not comfortable the way things were going and I was wondering how everything was so smooth and hurdle free. I started doubting unnecessarily, although, I was not having any valid reason to say no to this proposal.

At the end, they wanted us to bless the boy by giving a token amount as "shagun", but I refused to honour their request by saying, please visit our house first, meet the girl, let both (boy and girl) talk to each other and let them take an appropriate decision, after all it was their lives and they must decide for their future life partner.

I could guess they did not like my suggestion. Mr. Rajbir Singh then gave a counter proposal and said, let both of them talk to each other over phone and seal the proposal. My wife immediately said no to this suggestion also, and again explained to them that over phone you can’t make a final decision. After all it’s a question of entire life of our children and how could you simply talk to someone over phone and take a final call, you are not buying a commodity, it’s the question of someone's entire life, which could be at a stake with one wrong decision; didn't it looked so absurd, stupid and unpractical, I said to them.

We finally convinced them and invited them to visit our house as per their convenience to meet with our family members including my daughter, for which they happily agreed.

Two days after we came back from Patiala, I got a call from Mr. Rajbir Singh that they would be visiting our place on that weekend. And as expected, their entire family came and met with our family. Later I requested my daughter to meet with the boy separately and discuss her concern. Both of them sat in a separate room and talked for about half an hour. My daughter told him about her hobbies, likes, future plans etc., and her intention to work as a teacher/lecturer after completing her studies and also asked him to talk about his views and future plans, freely and openly.

They left our place after lunch and promised to call us back within next few days. After a week or so, I got a SMS from Mr. Rajbir Singh, saying - “Boy not agreed”

I was shocked and stunned, what went wrong, why did they say no. Now my biggest problem was to convey this message to my wife and daughter. Moreover, what reason would I put forward for their refusal? I really didn’t know. I was in a dilemma. First I thought to talk to them over phone and ask the reason but later I decided to drop this idea and forget the whole episode as a bad dream. But how could I forget it so easily. I was angry and frustrated and did not know what to do and was not in a position to calm down either.

I came home and with great difficulty told my wife about the message from Patiala. As expected, my wife became very serious and started crying and within no time my daughter also came to know about it. But she did not utter a single word and went back to her room and closed the door.

At dinner table, we all sat together and we called our angel. She came out and sat with us and was looking very normal but I knew for sure, she must be deeply hurt as was clear from her face. Somehow, I was feeling myself to be the culprit for the whole episode. As in the first place, she was not interested for marriage, but I insisted her to meet with the boy’s family. My guilt became unbearable and I said "sorry" to my daughter. Hearing this, she came rushing to me, grabbed me and said: “Papa you don’t have to say sorry, it’s not your fault” and she could not control her tears which were eagerly waiting to flood her face. We both cried and at that very crucial moment, as usual, my wife, as a truly matured woman and mother, very nicely took the whole-situation in her own hands and said: “No more discussions on this topic please, I have prepared a special dish, so let’s enjoy our dinner tonight.”

Later on, I came to know from our Chandigarh friend that the boy was in love with another girl, but his parents wanted him to marry a girl of their choice. After returning from our place, the boy told his parents that: “If you don’t accept my proposal I will not accept yours”. What I fail to understand in the whole episode is that, what was the fault of our daughter? And who had given them a right to intrude into our lives just like that and disturb the family's atmosphere just because we are the parents of a daughter. Could any one ask them?

Only today, I realize why my mother used to get upset whenever a baby girl was born in our family or friends or relations; because she always used to say: “Girls are more loving and caring but it’s rather very difficult to get them suitably married and settled in today’s cruel world.”

With Prayers

Gurcharan

The best gift of God in my life

I reached home very late that night and over the dinner, my wife informed me that one Mr. Jha had come to our house in the evening and delivered an urgent message of Mr. S. K. Swamy (Personal Officer of a public limited company at Jamshedpur) and he wanted to wait for the reply for Mr. Swamy’s message. My wife with great difficulty could convince Mr. Jha that my arrival will be sometime at mid-night and that only tomorrow morning it would be possible to get a reply from me.

Hearing this from my wife, I got worried and all sorts of thought started pouring into my mind; what could have happened there, may be the machine we sold to them last month was not working or there could be some other problem. Carrying lots of negative thoughts, I finally went to sleep very late, with so many worries and tension.

The next morning, when I called Mr. Swamy over phone, he sounded very worried and asked me to rush to his office immediately. Over a cup of tea, he explained to me the whole story. A few months back, I gave them one Bio-data of Mr. Alok Kumar Karmchandani, who was then working as a Finance Head in an engineering organization at Ranchi. He was short listed for the post of “Chief Finance Office.” Last week, the Chairman of the company came back from abroad and wanted to meet with this new CFO, to whom they were thinking of appointing, but could not trace him at his Ranchi address because by then he had already resigned from that company, almost three months back, and had not left his contact address.

And when the Chairman enquired about the source of his Bio-data, my name came to light because I had given them the CV. Now Mr. Swamy’s boss: Mr. S. C. Sen (Chief Personal Officer) sincerely wanted me to trace Mr. Karamchandani and bring him to their Calcutta office to meet with their Chairman, who was to reach Calcutta the day after morning by his own plane.

Mr. Swamy happened to be a very dear friend of mine and so was Mr. Karamchandani. I therefore took one day casual leave from my job and proceeded to Calcutta the very next day to try and locate Mr. Karamchandani.

On arrival at Calcutta, first I visited Mr. Karamchandani’s previous company’s registered office and met with all the people in that office who could possibly know his address, but no luck. Nobody could help me out in this regard and I left the office with a heavy heart. While stepping down from the office stair, an old Peon of that office came running after me and said “You are looking for Mr. Karamchandani, I had once seen him near about the Red Building fast food restaurant on Camac Street.” He also gave me a tip that probably Mr. Karamchandani was working with a big builder of Calcutta whose Office was located near the Red building on Camac Street itself.

I thanked the peon and rushed towards the Red Building on Camac Street and started enquiring about the builder’s office near the restaurant. After visiting a couple of offices nearby, I finally located the builder’s office and when enquired about Mr. Karamchandani, the Lady sitting on the reception counter confirmed to me that yes, Mr. Karamchandani was employed there but he had gone to the Bank and would be back after 2.00 P.M.

She then asked me to wait at the visitor’s room and sent hot cup of tea along with biscuits and few magazines to read and relax while waiting. Mr. Karamchandani came back to his office around 2.30 PM and immediately came rushing to the visitor’s room on hearing from the receptionist that I was waiting for him since long. He was surprised and almost in a dilemma and shocking stage, as to what had brought me to his office and more importantly, from where did I get his address.

He came rushing in waiting room and first hugged me and literally pulled me-up, started laughing with great joy and said in an overwhelming tone, “So, at last, you have caught me, what’s up?” He met me as if we were meeting after ages and was so happy seeing me today at his new office. His emotions could not be explained in words and the genuineness of warmth was so clear and visible on his face. He immediately called his staff member to arrange lunch for us and started enquiring about me, my family and my job etc. I then told him about the purpose of my visit. He agreed to meet with the Chairman. He also invited me to have breakfast with him the next morning at his residence and from there he said, we would go together to meet with the Chairman.

We reached at the destination on schedule time and came to know that the Chairman had already reached Calcutta and would be in office within half an hour. On arrival, the Chairman immediately called Mr. Karamchandani and within fifteen minutes their meeting was over. Thereafter, the Chairman called me and first thanked me for locating and bringing Mr. Karamchandani to his office and later told me to meet him at Jamshedpur next Friday morning without fail.

I returned to Jamshedpur same night; and then became busy with my own job and almost forgot about the invitation of the Chairman. As expected, I again got an urgent message from my friend Mr. Swamy that the Chairman wanted to meet me today before dawn, it’s urgent.

I was sitting with a client when I got this message and the Chairman’s office was approximately 45 K.M. away from my present location. First I thought to make an excuse and avoid the visit, but later, I decided to meet with the Chairman; and it was mandatory also for me to visit him because, after all they were my existing client’s.

Therefore, after finishing my work, I rushed to meet the Chairman; and on arrival at his office, Mr. Swamy asked me to proceed to the Chairman’s chamber immediately, because he is waiting for me since morning and also wished me good luck.

The Chairman gave me a warm welcome and again thanked me for my sincere efforts. He then requested me to collect the expenses I had incurred on my Calcutta visit and at the end said: “I would like you to join my company, just sit with Mr. S. C. Sen (CPO Sir), discuss your emoluments and take your offer letter today itself, alright, and welcome aboard.”

I was shocked, stunned and almost fainted, what is he talking about? I never ever thought of joining this company even in my dreams and here the Chairman of the company himself offering me a job. Was I day-dreaming or is it true? After expressing my sincere thanks and gratitude, I came out of his chamber and went straight to Mr. Swamy’s cabin.

Mr. Swamy first congratulated me and said with his big smile “You did it Charan, Chairman Sir is very happy with you, now come and join us fast." He also told me that, the Company was offering me a job in marketing division, which I should accept without any hitch or hesitation. He then asked me to follow him to the CPO sir's cabin, for final discussions on my induction.

On my way back home, I was thinking and wondering about the whole episode. I never thought that I would ever join one of my client’s companies which not only gave me a good salary but also offered a Bungalow with servant quarter, company car with driver, free school bus facilities for children and full medical facilities for my entire family.

Mr. Karamscandani did not join them; instead he went back to Delhi to be with his previous employer. Now, after 23 years, when I think in retrospect, I strongly believe that it was all HIS doing and the blessings of my parents that a dear friend like Mr. S. L. Swamy, came into my life, who happens to be one of the best gifts of God in my life.

With Prayers

Gurcharan

Why all the Mothers are so Loving, Caring and Godly?

Three days have passed without any major hurdle and today being a Saturday, everything was closed at Shanghai city of China and I was all alone in my hotel room. The guests who had visited along with me had gone to see the Exhibition at another city and they were returning only on Monday morning.

I was totally a stranger to this city, no friends and no acquaintance with the place. I was not in a position to visit new sites in the city or make new friends due to the language problem. I even couldn’t take a long drive and go to a nearby village to meet with local people due the communication barrier.

The biggest problem which I could foresee was communication and that’s why I was not in a position to speak with the local people. They all spoke Chinese language only and English speaking people were very few except couple of hotel staffs at the hotel reception, who knew English, but for how long can someone talk to them.

The second more severe problem with me was my food habits. I being a pure vegetarian and teetotaler, alcoholic drinks were not in my menu; and in my prohibited food list, onion, garlic, chilies, eggs and beer were also not be included. Although this restriction was self-imposed and it was solely my own decision because I didn’t feel like having it and it was that simple. Although, I had never avoided the company of those people who were fond of non-vegetarian foods and alcoholic beverages, it’s purely their personal choices and I am nobody to raise an objection to it.

Therefore, I was left out with a very few food and drink options, which included soft drinks, fruit/fruit juice, bread, butter, green tea and tea/coffee. I couldn’t even eat pastries, cakes and biscuits because all of them were prepared with eggs. And whatever ration I had brought with me from India was exhausted last night.

In my hotel room, I was left with the choice to either read my favorite novel or watch TV, where again the choice was very limited to very few English news channel and suddenly I got a call from my wife and after listening to my pathetic story she suggested me to contact Mr. S. K Roy, (who were neighbour at our Kolkata flat), and was presently staying with his daughter and son-in-law, who were working in an Indian multinational company at Shanghai. I took my wife’s advice seriously and contacted Mr. Roy, which really proved a blessing in disguise.

I called Mr. Roy’s daughter’s local number from my hotel room, which was attended by Mr. Roy’s daughter Ms. Mona, and after listening to me for few seconds in Bengali, she shouted in her extreme voice and asked me in great excitement: “When did you come to Shanghai, Dada (brother), from where are you speaking now, wait I am giving the phone line to my father.”

She sounded very exited over the phone and asked so many questions in a row without waiting for my reply and simultaneously called her father in her loud voice: “Baba, come-fast, see who has called,” and I could clearly hear Mr. Roy's voice over the phone, who was asking: “Mona, who is calling” and after receiving the phone he uttered only one word: “Hellow” and I said “Namaskar, I am Gurcharan speaking” he again asked in a curious tone “From where are you calling” and I then told him in detail about the purpose of my visit to Shanghai city and my present location.

He immediately told me to pack-up my luggage, check out from my hotel room and proceed to his house without any further delay and stay with them till I am staying in Shanghai. I explained to him that I am on official tour and I can’t checkout from my hotel room. Moreover, my guests would be back on Monday and I had to receive them from the domestic airport and thereafter need to proceed to our local office. He then told me to come that evening and requested me to stay with them, atleast, till Sunday night. I again explained to him my difficulties in doing so but assured him that I will definitely visit them next morning and stay for the whole day and after lot of explanation, I could make him understand my position and convinced him about my Sunday visit.

I left my Hotel-room at eight o’clock the very next day morning and reached Mr. Roy’s house by 10 O’ clock sharp in the morning and after ringing the door-bell, Mr. Roy’s daughter, Monadi opened the door and after exchange of greetings asked me “Dada, where is my father?” I replied “I didn’t know? She then told me that her father was so excited about my coming that he had gone to the Metro station since the morning to receive me.

I was feeling uncomfortable to hear about it, at this old age Mr. Roy had gone all the way to the Metro station on foot just to receive me, so that I should not face any difficulty in finding his house, which was only 4 K.M. away from their flat. His daughter along with me rushed back to the station and to my utter surprise, we saw Mr. Roy still standing at platform number one, looking attentatively at all the passengers coming out of the in-coming train/s.

And at the station, when I called him from the back, he immediately made a u-turn and after looking at both of us said, “Mona, from where did you get him?” And she said to her father “You are standing here and Dada had reached home directly.” And when I bowed down to touch his feet, he stopped me in-between and held me in his hands and embraced me so tightly and I could see his eyes wet with tears.

Mr. Roy’s this act deeply touched my heart, although, I was not his son nor a relative or a friend, we were just neighbours but still, it was also true that we both were Indians, Bengali by heart and disciple of Goddess Kali, which was an emotional bond between both of us.

We reached back home and saw Maamuni (Mother: Mrs. Roy) standing at the balcony of their second floor flat and looking at the main entrance gate towards the building; she must be wondering, where had we all gone? When she saw us, she raised her hand, started smiling and rushed back to open the main door of her flat. As soon as I saw her, I first touched her feet in respect and she profoundly grabbed me by both hands and embraced me. She started touching my face by her both hands and repeated the same sentence again and again: “Charan, you have come, very good, very good.”

They first offered me breakfast, full meal at lunch and snacks etc. in the evening with tea. And to my utmost surprise everything was served exactly of my choice and I was wondering how they knew about my choice, liking and taste. And at late evening when I wanted to bid good-bye, Maamuni gave me one big bag and told me to open only after reaching my hotel. I did not argue with her and finally Mr. Roy came along with me till the Metro station and left only after my train’s departure.

After reaching my hotel room, I first opened the bag and got the surprise of my lifetime, there were five different air-tight plastic containers and on each container, there were instructions written in Bengali, which said what to eat, when to eat and where to keep rest of the food, in my hotel room so that it may not get spoiled.

After a week, when I reached home at Gurgaon, my wife told me that Maamuni (Mrs. Roy) had called my wife and enquired about my food habits, taste and likings in detail and that’s how she was able to cook all the food of my choice with right contents of spices and oil without adding onion, garlic and chilies, so that I had sufficient food of my choice while staying in Shanghai. I sometimes wonder, why all the Mothers are so loving, caring and Godly?

May lord almighty always keep the Roy family happy and healthy and may they always keep such good hearts to treat each and everyone as their own.

With Prayers

Gurcharan

It’s the right mix of patience and passion which gets right kind of job.

I was waiting at Hotel New Kenilworth, Kolkata, at nine o’clock sharp in the morning, because I was told by Mr. Mukherjee, who had taken my first interview a day before at the same hotel, to visit again the next day morning at 9.00 A.M. to meet with his boss, Mr. Anand-General Manager (Marketing), who was to come from Mumbai by the morning flight for the final interview.

The Receptionist at the Hotel was very courteous and very kindly allowed me to wait for so long at the reception and also offered me a cup of tea. It was almost 8:00 P.M. in the evening but nobody by the name of Mr. Anand had checked into the Hotel that evening till then.

Meanwhile, the new team had come at the reception and they enquired again from me about the purpose of my waiting. I narrated the whole story to the new person, who took charge at reception counter for the night shift and after carefully listening to my story, informed me that Mr. Anand’s visit has been cancelled but in his place one Mr. Sharma from the same Company, had just checked in from Poona.

I was very exited and tensed because in place of Mr. Anand, now Mr. Sharma had come and with great excitement I asked his room number. The Receptionist gave me the room number on the condition that I would first speak to Mr. Sharma before going into his room. Therefore, as per the instructions of the receptionist, I called Mr. Sharma on the intercom from the hotel lobby: “Good evening Sir, my name is Gurcharan and I was told by Mr. Mukherjee that Mr. Anand would come today morning for taking my final interview, but had not come, is everything okay with him?” Mr. Sharma very politely greeted me and said sorry for having kept me waiting for so long for Mr. Anand. Besides, he also informed me that Mr. Anand could not come due to hypertension and that his Doctor had advised him not to travel for a week and take complete rest. Hence, in place of Mr. Anand, he had come.

I asked so many questions in a row about his health, the reason of flight delay etc. and if he was feeling alright at this point in time and finally suggested to him in a very hesitant voice: “Sir, you must be feeling tired and exhausted coming all the way from Poona, and therefore, I would come the next day morning for the interview, if it’s alright with you”. But Mr. Sharma immediately responded in his very cool and soft tone: “No no, you better wait for five more minutes please and I would call you right away and we would finish the interview today itself, because tomorrow morning I am flying to Delhi, alright.”

The Receptionist called me within five minutes: “Mr. Singh, Mr. Sharma was calling you in his room; you know his room number?” I said yes and gave him a big smile, thanked him and immediately proceeded towards the elevator to meet with Mr. Sharma in room no. 203 which was on the second floor.

The distance between the reception and room no. 203 was only of three minutes but for me it was as if three hours and all sorts of negative feelings and fear started coming to my mind. What will he think about me as I had waited for more than 11 hours for this interview and there was no guarantee that I would get this job. They were looking for an engineer to sell capital equipments in Eastern Region which were very expensive Tool Room machines but I being commerce graduate who was having the experince of selling commercial vehicles till then. I didn’t know what all questions he was going to ask me in the final interview. I thought, he may be angry also, at this hour of night could any sensible person ever bother someone for interview at this odd hour? I was a stupid fool waiting like an idiot for them for so long, why?

There were two more candidates, who had come in the morning to meet Mr. Anand along with me and had left within half an hour of waiting, but here I was waiting for eleven hours like a fool for the said interview without any information from the person supposed to interview me.

Before I could knock the room door, I found the door being opened by a five feet six inches tall, very fair, good looking, handsome, gentleman, who shook my hand with a very warm smile and immediately made me very comfortable with his gesture and body language, making me easy and relaxed within few seconds and asked me: “What will you have, I am ordering some snacks & coffee, what about you?” I immediately said no to his offer, but he insisted, “You must be feeling hungry, have something” and ordered one pot of tea and veg. sandwiches for me to the room service.

Within next fifteen minutes the Coffee, Tea and Sandwiches arrived and he first offered me a cup of tea and said: “first let’s eat something then we will start our interview? Meanwhile, he started enquiring about me, my family and my job. After finishing the tea, he told me to wait at the Reception and fill in the Bio data form. He said, he would call me back within next ten to fifteen minutes.

It took fifteen minutes to complete the said bio-data form and when I returned to his room, he was talking to someone over phone about me, when he saw me at the door; he waived his left hand and called me inside. After finishing his talk with his boss at Poona, he took back the said bio-data form and started asking questions. And at the end, he asked me: “You like reading books, which one is your favourite” I said I have many favourite books but “Fountain Head by Ayn Rand” is very special.

He than asked me about the Fountain Head and names of the characters, I gave him the brief of each and every important character of the said book, starting with the main character: Howard Roark followed by Dominique Franken, Peter Keating and Gail Waynand.

I was really very surprised to meet with Mr. Sharma, who remembered each and every character of the book “Fountain Head” and we both were sharing similar opinions about all these characters. The discussions continued for an hour and suddenly he said: “It’s too late now, you better go home and we would continue our discussions at Poona when you will come to join us, alright, all the very best for your future and good night”.

At the end of the day, I feel, its patience and passion along with requisite qualification definitely makes the right-mix to get suitable career opportunity in the corporate world today.

I got the letter of appointment within 15 days and as per the plan joined his company in first week of May at Poona. I spent best years of my professional and personal life in the said company. I not only got a good job in a good company but also association of a very caring, kind, loving and nice human being whom I love even today the most. May God bless him and may all his dreams come true, Amen!

With Prayers

Gurcharan