Ravi Speaks:-Special Attraction For Pharma Developed During My College Days Only.

I was just a student of the college pursuing my Pre-Medical studies and was hardly 18 years of age when I started realizing that the profession of Medical Representative was very attractive and paid a handsome salary too. It was during this time that I came in contact with almost all the Kashmiri Senior Medical Reps(of Jammu) of that time very frequently. The reason was my Grandfather and maternal Uncle. My grandfather-Mr. A.N Kaul- had friends like Mr. M L Punjabi, Mr. Mohan Lal Misqeen, Mr. Mahadev Kaul, and some more even from his J & K Bankside where he had just retired from the post of Head Cashier and most importantly my Maternal Uncle Mr.D P Kaul was himself the Regional manager in Himalaya-who had his friend circle like Mr. Kewal Sher, Mr. B L Kakroo, Mr.Vivek Punjabi Mr.P L Razdan and so many more whose names and company names to I remembered. Mr. D P Kaul had shifted down to Jammu from Srinagar in 1978-79 and till that time he had remained in Srinagar for quite some time as the Representative and later as the Regional Manager as well.

PAPLOO GAME OF CARDS.

So the beauty was that all these great men(their friends) used to meet at our place in Julaka Mohalla residence on Sundays in the afternoon and they used to play Paploo for hours together at a stretch till late evening and this had become a very regular routine. I was just a college-going student during that time and used to be very curiously waiting for the Sunday to come. I used to sit with my grandfather or uncle as an observer and just enjoy the game-how it was taking the shape. For me, the attraction was simply the beauty of the witty statements given during the play by almost all the players. I still admire the genius of all those who had the best ideas coming during the play and regarding the moves happening in the play-and sharing their statements which were not only the witty but also the satirical at times. These statements were the intimations and signals being given as if there was a competitive atmosphere even during the play by the players. I liked that conversation among them. I being the younger one sitting amongst all the seniors there in Paploo game -used to go to the market at times for their Cigarettes and even for bringing the eating stuff-for which I used to very happily do that. By the time the evening came, I was very particular to know the score as to who won the maximum and who lost the maximum. There used to be self-declaration by each player before calling the day’s game closed and that was by giving the exact picture as to how much they won or lost.

GROUP PLAYING CARDS

What I found was that the players were not that much bothered about the money lost or gained but they were concerned about spending more and more time with each other and enjoying the interactions between themselves. That was something special out of the day’s play. Even the latest happenings were being discussed and news about other friends was also shared there on such occasions-which made the gathering of these players even more lively.

YOUNG GROUP PLAYING CARDS

OLDER GROUP PLAYING CARDS

I still remember my grandmother telling my grandfather many times that once the game started he used to forget about the rest of the people and never bothered even for the smaller homely things to be attended. So at times, my grandfather would do certain home-related things well in advance and he never kept anything pending for the Sunday lest his special Sunday would get disturbed. She used to call it a “Mandli” and believe the me-such type of gathering once a week was nothing less than a celebration type and I especially would enjoy the maximum out of it. The peak of such Paploo games/meetings used to be around Deepawali and Shivratri and those were the occasions when the gathering too used to be very high. I remember once the number of their friends was so high that two “Paploo-Mandlis”(groups) were made. One was playing in our common room and the other in the drawing-room. In one Mandli maximum, 8-9 people used to sit together and three sets of playing cards were being used and they used to play with the possibility of getting three Paploos even in one hand. I remember they used to call Sangham for two Paploos coming together in one hand and if three Paploos also came which was very rare-they used to call it Tringham. Those occasions when the players used to show the two Paploos or Sangham it was a very exciting moment for the rest to see and part away with a good amount to the winner. The winner even used to get as high as 30-35 points as the winning amount in one hand. At the end of the day, there were the winners with very high earnings. But this never used to be the regular feature for a particular winner every week. Thus at the end of each game if the winner was not the same-they used to say that it was not their day particularly on that day hence things did not happen in their favor on that particular day.

PAPLOO GAME BEING PLAYED

Coming to my main topic-these were the occasions when I came in contact with Pharma people and slowly and steadily started realizing that they were all very nice and witty people and represented good houses too. I started thinking that if I did not get the medical seat or did not go to any other stream-I might have to go for the plain M.Sc and finally work as a Junior Research Fellow somewhere. And as the luck would have it I got admission to M.Sc Chemistry Jammu University-where I did hardly two semesters and got a chance to work in the Himalayas due to my Maternal Uncle’s recommendation. In a  way, I was not happy but at the same time had no regrets also since by that time I had already developed an affinity towards this pharma line due to being in constant touch with my Uncle’s friends and even with my Grandfather’s friends.

AFFINITY FOR PHARMA

This affinity gave a big consolation to me that I too would be enjoying the same sort of line which I had seen these witty people enjoying. It was with due course of time that the intricacies and the tricks of the trade were picked up by me as well and I devoted that way the whole of my serving tenure to this profession of pharma selling.

I am reminded of the very impactful lines: “One often finds his destiny on the road which is unknown to him and acclimatizes himself to this new course in his life by way of his power of Adaptability & the yearnings-that there are sure to be more springs coming his way.”

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