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Vikram Aur Betal

 

In July 1986, I got my promotion as a frontline manager in CIBA. I was called by Regional Business Manager, Mr.K.B.Sarma  to the Regional Office in Bangalore for a job familiarisation training. Record keeping and administrative works to be handled in my new responsibilty were the subjects to learn while I was in Bangalore. My trainer for this was Mr.K.B.Sarma himself. I attended the office training for about 2 weeks. The field staff based in Bangalore (i.e Medical Representatives) used to drop in at the Regional Office quite now and then, particularly those who were in the vicinity of the office in connection with their field work. On one of such occasions, Mr.S.Venkateswaran, our Medical Representative in Bangalore dropped in at the office. Finding me there, he greeted me saying "Hello Mr Betal, how are you?" Ramanand Sagar's Vikram aur Betal was a very popular TV serial that was telecast during 1985-86 period. Since I had just got my promotion as a frontline manager, I was likened to the TV serial character, Betal.


Vikram Aur Betal is based on 'Betaal Pachisi', written in the 11th century by Kashmiri poet Somdev Bhatt. These are spellbinding stories told to the wise King Vikramaditya by the witty ghost Betaal. Vikramaditya was a great king who ruled over a prosperous kingdom from his capital at Ujjain. According to folklore, the King of Ujjain, Vikramaditya or Vikram, is said to have promised to bring a ghost named Betal to a sage to help him complete his prayers. Following Vikram's encounter with Betal, the ghost agrees to accompany him on one condition. Betal would narrate a tricky story with a riddle. Vikram should surely answer the question if he knew the answer. The riddling would end only when genuinely Vikram does not have a right answer to give. The folk lore goes like that. 


Some of the basic responsibilities of a frontline field sales manager in a pharmaceutical company include frequent and periodic joint field work and imparting online job training to the Medical Representatives. As a part of exercising this duty, the frontline manager is generally seen as a pillion rider on the two wheeler used by the Medical Representatives while on field work. As a part of his job, he questions the Rep about the product knowledge, market conditions, sales performance, customer profiling etc to workout his plans for online training. Thus, there seems to exist a parallel between Betal and a frontline manager.....both repeatedly ride on the back (Betal on the back of Vikram and the frontline manager as a pillion rider behind a medical representative) Betal indulges in riddling Vikram while sitting on his back and similarly the frontline manager has many questions to ask of the medical representatives. Thus the job of a frontline manager in the field sales department of a Pharma company is likened to Betal of the mystical story of Vikram-Betal.

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