A Day in Life of Sales Guy

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 "

A Day in Life of a Sales Representative" 

Buy this book on AMAZON

Fun in Train 2

"अंकल आप क्या कर रहे हैं?" बच्चे ने उस आदमी से पूछा।

उस आदमी ने मफलर को ठीक करके अपने चेहरे को और छुपाते हुए बोला, "देखते नहीं , बल्ब निकाल रहा हूँ?"

बच्चे ने फिर पूछा, "तो आप खराब बल्ब को निकाल कर नया बल्ब लगाते हैं? आप रेलवे के मैकेनिक हैं?"

उस आदमी ने बल्ब को अपने जैकेट की जेब में डालते हुए कहा, "नहीं, मैं इस बल्ब को अपने घर ले जाउँगा, फिर घर में रोशनी होगी।"

बच्चे ने कहा, "लेकिन यह बल्ब तो रेल का है। आप इसे चोरी कर रहे हैं?"

उस आदमी ने थोड़ा खीझते हुए कहा, "ऊपर देखो, लिखा हुआ है कि रेल की संपत्ति आपकी अपनी संपत्ति है।"

You may have encountered similar incidents during a train journey. Read such funny incidents in my new novel "YOUR TRAIN IS RUNNING LATE.

Buy This Novel on AMAZON

Fun in Train

बंटी को नाक भौं सिकोड़े लौटता देखकर उसकी माँ ने पूछा, "क्या हुआ? लगता है टॉयलेट बहुत गंदा है।"

बंटी ने कहा, "हाँ, लगता है किसी देहाती आदमी ने कल रात ढ़ेर सारा खाना खा लिया था और उसी को पूरी टॉयलेट सीट पर निकालकर अभी अभी निकला है। पता नहीं कैसे कैसे लोग चले आते हैं ट्रेन में सफर करने। बदबू से तो बुरा हाल है। मैंं तीन दिन तक रोक लूंंगा लेकिन ऐसी हालत में मेरी तो नहीं निकलेगी।"

बंटी की माँ ने कहा, "बेटा, ये तुम्हारे बेडरूम का अटैच बाथरूम नहीं है। ट्रेन से चलते समय इन सब चीजों को बर्दाश्त करने की आदत डाल लेनी चाहिए।"

You may have experienced similar situation while traveling by train. Read such anecdotes in my novel "Your Train is Running Late"


Buy This Book:

Fun on Train

The passenger appeared to be highly annoyed when he said to the pantry staff, "Hey! Why do you sell mineral water of fake brands? You are also charging way beyond the maximum retail price."

The pantry staff rudely answered, "Take what you get. You have no other option than to buy from us."

The passenger was flabbergasted, "I am going to complain about this. Can I get the complaint form?"

The pantry staff laughed while he replied, "We don't keep complaint forms. For getting a contract for this train, our owner had paid a huge sum of commission to the higher authorities in the railways. No, point in complaining."

The pantry staff further continued, "If you are so particular about quality then you should buy a private jet to travel in this country.

You may have experienced such harrowing experience while travelling by train. Read about a not so pleasant experience of travellers during a train journey. Buy my new novel "Your Train is Running Late"

Inconvenience is Deeply Regretted Part 2

ट्रेन ठसाठस भरी हुई थी। जब ट्रेन किसी स्टेशन पर रुकी तो डिब्बे के गेट पर लोगों की धक्कामुक्की शुरु हो गई। कुछ लोग उतरने की कोशिश कर रहे थे तो कुछ डिब्बे में चढ़ने की। तीन हट्टे कट्टे पुरुष ढे‌र सारे सामान के साथ किसी तरह डिब्बे में घुसने में सफल हो गये। डिब्बे के अंदर आते ही उन्होंने सामान को ऊपर वाली बर्थ पर ठूंसना शुरु किया। जब तक वो सामान रखकर सीट पर अपने लिये जगह बनाते तब तक ट्रेन चल चुकी थी। तीनों ने दम लेने के लिये तेजी से सांस लेना शुरु किया।

उसके बाद उनमे से एक थोड़ा घबराहट से बोला, "हई दादा! गजब हो गइल।"

उनमे से दूसरे ने पूछा, "का हो चाचा, का भइल?"

इसपर पहले आदमी ने कहा, "अरे जिनका के चहुपावे आइल रही हऊ त रेल में घुसवे न कइलन। ऊ लोग त स्टेशनवे पर छुट गइलन।"

Read many more funny incidents which can happen during a train journey. Buy my novel on Amazon: 

Inconvenience is Deeply Regretted

“भैया ये कटलेट तो ठंडे हैं। तुम गर्म कटलेट क्यों नहीं रखते?“ मैने पैंट्री के स्टाफ से पूछा।

पैंट्री के स्टाफ ने निर्विकार भाव से कहा, “साहब, ये कटलेट कल के हैं। पहले कल वाले बिक जाएँ तभी तो आज ताजे बनेंगे।“

क्या आपको भी ट्रेन यात्रा के दौरान ऐसा अनुभव हुआ है? पढ़िये ऐसे ही मजेदार और रोचक अनुभव मेरे नये उपन्यास “YOUR TRAIN IS RUNNING LATE” में। यह उपन्यास अमेजन डॉट कॉम पर उपलब्ध है। यह किंडल पर और पेपरबैक दोनों टाइप में उपलब्ध है। 

Your Train is Running Late

This story is about various problems which one can encounter while travelling by trains; especially during a long distance journey. More often than not, the train never runs on time. A slight disturbance in weather causes inordinate delay in train timings. The lack of concept of ‘customer service’ among the railway staffs, vendors, railway police, etc. further compound the problem and take the joy out of traveling. There are two key protagonists in this novel. One of them is a middle class person while another is a migrant laborer. Both of them face almost similar problems but each of them has his own way to visualize and tackle a particular problem. But the migrant laborer faces more problems because of his socio-economic status. But the same socio-economic status enables him to derive more pleasure from mundane things. Both the protagonists are travelling by the same train but are travelling in different classes. Both of them get almost similar pain due to inordinately long duration of the journey. However, both of them keep on their nerves to withstand the agonies of the journey and finally end up as satisfied passengers when they reach their final destination. One of the protagonists is a middle class person working at middle level position in some private company at Delhi. Another protagonist is a migrant laborer from Bihar who lives with three other friends in a slum in Delhi. The first protagonist is traveling to Bihar for the festival of Holi; along with his family. The second protagonist is also traveling by the same train and for the same purpose but he is going to meet his family. The first protagonist is going by the air-conditioned class while another guy is going by the sleeper class. Both of them face difficulties while getting confirmed tickets for the journey. However, availability of a travel agent makes it somewhat easier for the second character. The train is running behind its schedule and hence both of them are forced to wait for their train for about ten hours on the waiting lounge of the railway station. During their journey, they face numerous other problems; in the form of shoddy quality of food, greedy railway staffs and further delay during the journey. They make many friends during the journey and share their thoughts, happiness and sorrow with their fellow passengers. They get to interact with some of the unique characters during their journey. After going through all the trials and tribulations, they successfully reach their respective destinations. The train takes more than thirty hours to complete its journey against the stipulated schedule of about twenty hours. If waiting period is included then their tale of horror lasts for more than forty hours. This story tells about the numerous difficulties faced by common people in their day-to-day life. We should not forget that we are living in a country where a simple task like crossing the road can be life threatening.