Anecdotes & memories of a sales guy

Good Friday, Black Friday are turning out to be anathema to me... on a Good Friday in 1976 there was a theft in my house and on Black Friday the 25th November 2022,  I lost my wallet. The newspaper on Black Friday was enticing everyone with calls of Great Black Friday Offers ranging from small house hold items to big gadgets like mobile phones, refregirators, ACs etc. Wet Floor mop at home had worn out and required an urgent replacement. Late in the evening, I ventured out on my two wheeler with my wife on the pillion seat to buy a mop. Selection of the mop was in her domain - varieties of mops are available from a simple manual squeeze twist type mop stick to a Scotch-Brite Butterfly Mop with superior hands free squeezing mechanism, mops with microfibre bottom to sponge bottoms, the cost varying from just about ₹150/- to ₹1500/- The selection was, therefore, a specialist's job.   All my daily shopping is usually done in my immediate nighbourhood just around my house on a...

  I wish to recall memories of some of my dealers who were completely different and unique. In the pharmaceutical field, usually 3 tiers of dealers operate - state level Distributors, district level wholesalers called Stockists and finally retailers who dispense medicines to the patient. I am talking now about 3 such Stockists. P.Venkatapati Raju (P.V.Raju & Co): He was my stockist in Guntur in the 70's and early 80's. He was a highly educated man....a B.Com, B.L.,MBA. He was an upright person who never bribed anyone in drugs department and sales tax department. It is a record of sorts in those days. He used to keep his shop open between 8am-12pm & 3pm-7pm. No matter who (even the high and mighty officials of big MNCs) visited his shop, not for a minute after the closing times will he keep the shop doors open for anyone. In those days computers weren't there but his stock ledgers were always kept upto the minute to tally with the stocks on the shelf. He was a joy t...

A story has been in circulation in social media about a purported interview to select 3 physicists by Nobel Laureate Prof.C.V.Raman after his retirement when he wished to open a Research Institute in Bangalore. The day after the interview was over, a candidate who just failed to make the grade was waiting to meet him during his morning walk in the park. When questioned by Sir C V Raman, the candidate revealed how he was reimbursed ₹7 more than his claim towards attending the interview the previous day. He visited the Research Centre Office in the previous evening and attempted to return the excess money paid to him. Because the accounts had closed, they could not take back the amount and hence asked him to enjoy. Since it is not right for him to accept the money which did not belong to him, he wanted to give it back to Prof. Raman. Pleased with the honesty of the person, Prof. asked the young man to meet him the next day at 10.30 am. When he met next day, the Nobel Laureate told the yo...

Proddatur draws it's name and fame through an act of Lord Sri Rama who installed a saikata linga (linga made of sand) to mitigate the Brahma hatya dosham from killing of Ravana. While this mythological connect remained with the town, it is famous for Gold trade. It is considered as Second Mumbai due to the volume of gold business. For over a century, gold trade is predominantly in the hands of a large entrepreneurial Vysya population living here. While the very affluent and well to do vysyas are into gold trade, women in not so rich families supplementing their family income by making leaf plates using leaves of bastard teak (flame-of-the-forest tree or  Butea monosperma) These leaf plates were commonly used those days in Rayalaseema region. The leaves have astringent, depurate, diuretic and aphrodisiac properties, stimulate and promote diuresis. Make shift eateries on the pials (scaffold or  raised platform) on either side of the main entrance of their homes making dosas was ...

"A person's name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language”  said Dale Carnegie who was an American writer and author of many self development books. He explains the importance of a person's name in his book How to Win Friends and Influence People. He explains that a person's name is the sweetest sound they can hear. In other words, people love to hear their own name. My name is Madhva muni and I am named after my maternal grandfather, Sri Madhvachar who while being very orthodox, was a highly successful lawyer of his time. I always felt proud of my name since it also is associated with one among the trinity of great Indian philosopher theologians, Sankara Ramanuja & Madhva, the chief proponent of the Dvaita school of Vedanta. Since the time I can remember, I have been facing a peculiar problem with my uncommon name.  When someone has to write or make a data entry of my name, invariably  made it as MADHAVA MUNI by inserting an A after M...

My job in pharmaceutical sales profession exposed me to all the woes associated with a travelling job. The problems were unique. Since I was a bachelor when I started my sales career covering a small geographic territory (Guntur town and Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh) I had to eat food in small restaurants and eating joints in various small towns which  served food totally different from the hotel in Bangalore. I used to consume generally bland and less spicy but very tasty food at  a hotel (Gayathri Boarding) for the entire duration of my college studies in Bangalore. Food in the coastal region of Andhra Pradesh is usually very spicy. It was tough adjusting to the food since no two consecutive meals were generally cooked by the same chef as the travel meant that I had to be going to different hotels.  Living out of a suit case, necessiated by the travelling sales job, restricts life in many ways. We carry limited dresses while on travel warranting usage of laundry ...