Social Behaviour
A certain Mr. Ajwani was appointed as a sales representative for 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 he 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 far too much. But Mr. Ajwani replied, “I will give you a far greater amount of 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 appeared to be from 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 made a trunk call to 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 differently when he received the cheque and the order signed by her. On a subsequent occasion when I had a chance 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 rather something which eventually benefits one in innumerable, often intangible, ways, simply because it makes for social harmony at its best.
