Rakesh hurriedly put his heavy detailing bag on the luggage rack and took a window seat in the bus. His bag was made of thick leather of reddish color; which is the typical bag carried by medical representatives. Although nylon backpacks have replaced this traditional bag in most of the companies, the red leather bag is still considered as an ID proof for medical representatives across India. Many people easily recognise a medical representative because of the read leather bag.
After getting the comfort of finding a seat in the bus, Rakesh lit a cigarette and began making different shapes out of smoke emanating from his nostrils and mouth. He was thinking about the work ahead which he had planned to do once reaching a particular market.
A middle aged gentleman took the seat next to his seat. He was wearing a half-sleeve shirt which was not tucked inside the trousers. He was carrying a small pouch-like bag which was slung from his wrist. The gentleman craned his neck through in front of Rakesh and spat a powerful jet of betel juice out of the window. After clearing his throat, the gentleman asked from Rakesh, "Looking at your red leather bag, it appears that you are working as MR. Have I guessed it right?"
Rakesh gave a smile and said, "Yes sir, you have guessed it right."
The middle aged gentleman continued, "If you don't mind, can I ask you a question?"
Rakesh said, "Yeah, go ahead,"
The gentleman asked, "Actually, I am in the process of finalising the marriage of my only daughter. The prospective groom is working as an MR at Begusarai. I am unable to recall the name of the company but he appears to be earning handsome money. But I have a doubt. Is this job of permanent nature or is it for a fix period?"
Rakesh said, "Sir, it depends. I have seen many guys who have retired after working for more than three decades. Then I have also seen many guys who get kicked out of the job within six months."
The gentleman appeared to be worried, "Why do they kick out people from jobs? Did they get caught in some scam or bribery?"
Rakesh said, "No sir, it is not like that. Who is going to pay a bribe to a medical representative. A medical representative is not going to issue a driving license or ration card to you. A common man seldom needs to deal with a medical representative. In fact, survival in this job depends on performance; I mean sales. If a person continues to give sales to suit his company's requirement he can continue for as many years as he wishes. If someone fails to bring sales then nobody can help him."
The gentleman appeared to be more worried, "If this is the situation, then why do people join this profession?"
Rakesh said, "Sir, I am a plain vanilla graduate. I have no technical qualification and I come from a lower middle class family. I am not intelligent enough to crack the competition for government jobs. As I belong to the forwards caste so less number of available vacancies is another problem."
The gentleman asked, "But the prospective groom was sharing with me that he beat at least a thousand guys to land in this job. He said that he was highly intelligent."
Rakesh said, "I don't know about your prospective groom but I am a mediocre guy. Nevertheless, this is a decent job and you can go ahead to marry your daughter with a medical representative."
The gentleman had probably made up his mind. He said, "No way. I am now going to find some clerk in the government department. I think a clerk would be better than a medical representative for my daughter."
You may have experienced similar incident in your life. Get similar stories to read in my new book "
After getting the comfort of finding a seat in the bus, Rakesh lit a cigarette and began making different shapes out of smoke emanating from his nostrils and mouth. He was thinking about the work ahead which he had planned to do once reaching a particular market.
A middle aged gentleman took the seat next to his seat. He was wearing a half-sleeve shirt which was not tucked inside the trousers. He was carrying a small pouch-like bag which was slung from his wrist. The gentleman craned his neck through in front of Rakesh and spat a powerful jet of betel juice out of the window. After clearing his throat, the gentleman asked from Rakesh, "Looking at your red leather bag, it appears that you are working as MR. Have I guessed it right?"
Rakesh gave a smile and said, "Yes sir, you have guessed it right."
The middle aged gentleman continued, "If you don't mind, can I ask you a question?"
Rakesh said, "Yeah, go ahead,"
The gentleman asked, "Actually, I am in the process of finalising the marriage of my only daughter. The prospective groom is working as an MR at Begusarai. I am unable to recall the name of the company but he appears to be earning handsome money. But I have a doubt. Is this job of permanent nature or is it for a fix period?"
Rakesh said, "Sir, it depends. I have seen many guys who have retired after working for more than three decades. Then I have also seen many guys who get kicked out of the job within six months."
The gentleman appeared to be worried, "Why do they kick out people from jobs? Did they get caught in some scam or bribery?"
Rakesh said, "No sir, it is not like that. Who is going to pay a bribe to a medical representative. A medical representative is not going to issue a driving license or ration card to you. A common man seldom needs to deal with a medical representative. In fact, survival in this job depends on performance; I mean sales. If a person continues to give sales to suit his company's requirement he can continue for as many years as he wishes. If someone fails to bring sales then nobody can help him."
The gentleman appeared to be more worried, "If this is the situation, then why do people join this profession?"
Rakesh said, "Sir, I am a plain vanilla graduate. I have no technical qualification and I come from a lower middle class family. I am not intelligent enough to crack the competition for government jobs. As I belong to the forwards caste so less number of available vacancies is another problem."
The gentleman asked, "But the prospective groom was sharing with me that he beat at least a thousand guys to land in this job. He said that he was highly intelligent."
Rakesh said, "I don't know about your prospective groom but I am a mediocre guy. Nevertheless, this is a decent job and you can go ahead to marry your daughter with a medical representative."
The gentleman had probably made up his mind. He said, "No way. I am now going to find some clerk in the government department. I think a clerk would be better than a medical representative for my daughter."
You may have experienced similar incident in your life. Get similar stories to read in my new book "
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