A certain Mr. Ajwani was appointed as a sales
representative in a large pharmaceuticals firm in
Calcutta in 1965. His predecessor had been engaged
at a monthly salary of Rs. 1,200 plus rail expenses.
Mr. Ajwani made it clear that the would not accept
less than Rs. 3,000 per month and that he would
only agree to travel by air when he had to visit
other towns to take orders. The director who was
interviewing him pointed out that, in terms of his
total expenses, that was much too much. But Mr.
Ajwani replied, “I will give you ‘much too much’
work in return. Just give me a chance and you will
see”. There was something very engaging about the
way he put his arguments, and finally he was
appointed as the firm’s representative for the area
of Gujarat.
In those days a certain famous lady doctor had a
flourishing practice in one of the towns of Gujarat,
but although her clinic required great quantities of
medicines, she refused point blank to meet
pharmaceuticals agents if they were males. It had so
happened that an agent had once used his
knowledge of palmistry as a pretext to hold her
hand and then kiss it. After this very disturbing
affair, she had come to feel apprehensive about the
behaviour of other agents, and refused to allow any
of them even to enter her clinic.
When Mr. Ajwani was on the point of setting off on
a business trip which was to take him to this very
city, he told his director that he was confident that
he would get orders from this lady doctor. The
director told him not to be so naive, for everyone
knew that this was a sheer impossibility. Her
attitude was so well-known that none of the agents
had the remotest hope of ever meeting her, far less
of receiving orders from her.
Undaunted, Mr. Ajwani set off. In the plane, he
found himself seated next to an elderly lady who
was obviously of a good family. They had hardly
taken off when the old lady had a sudden fit of
coughing. Some sputum came into her mouth and
she became quite flustered. Mr. Ajwani, seeing how
awkward she felt, quickly placed his handkerchief
in front of her mouth so that she could spit into it.
Then he went to the bathroom and disposed of it.
His thoughtfulness impressed her greatly and they
chatted amicably for the rest of the flight. When the
plane landed, they disembarked together, he
helping her with her hand luggage. On coming out
of the ‘arrivals’ lounge, she was distressed to
discover that no car had come to receive her. Mr.
Ajwani once again offered to be of help, saying that
he could easily drop her at her home by taxi before
going on to his hotel. She gratefully agreed to this
and, on reaching home, made a note of his name
and address before saying goodbye to him.
Shortly afterwards, her daughter came back home
and was surprised to find her mother there. She felt
very sorry that the message about her arrival had
never reached her, and that her mother had had no
car to receive her and bring her home. “You must
have had difficulty in coming home alone,” she said
to her mother. “Not at all,” the old lady replied,
and, her eyes shining with gratitude, she told her
the whole story of the kind gentleman she had met
on the plane. The daughter was very favourably
impressed and immediately telephoned Mr. Ajwani
at his hotel to thank him and invite him to dinner.
Mr. Ajwani promptly accepted her invitation, and,
when they were introduced to each other, he
discovered, to his great surprise, that she was none
other than the famous lady doctor who hated male
agents. When she learnt that Mr. Ajwani
represented a pharmaceuticals company, she lost no
time in placing a sizeable order with him, and
added that since she always needed large quantities
of medicines in her clinic, he could take it that she
would be a regular customer and that he could keep
sending her supplies every month.
After dinner, he immediately trunk-called his boss
from his hotel to give him the good news. His boss
could hardly believe his ears and thought at first
that he must be joking. But two days later, he
thought quite differently when he received the
cheque and the order signed by her.
On a subsequent occasion when I had occasion to
meet Mr. Ajwani, I asked him, just by the way, to
give me some good business tips. He replied,
“Polite conversation and gentlemanly behaviour.” I
added, “Yes, even when there appears to be no
obvious advantage!”
Polite behaviour falls into two categories. One
follows the conventional etiquette reserved for
relatives, acquaintances and people with whom
one’s interests are associated. It is socially beneficial
in that it makes relationships easier, smoother and
more generally civilized. Even if such behaviour is
sometimes artificial, it has a certain positive, social
value. The other kind of good behaviour is
completely natural, straight from the heart and
based on genuine consideration for others. When it
becomes a matter of habit with people from all
walks of life, it is of inestimable value in all human
relations. It is not, of course, something which one
“switches on” in the hopes of immediate reward,
but is something rather which eventually benefits
one in innumerable, often intangible ways, simply
because it makes for social harmony at its best.
Ref - The Moral Vision
- by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
