COMMITMENT

Each one of us get enough opportunities from time to time. In fact, opportunities keep on knocking at our doors. First important thing which needs utmost attention is to recognize the opportunity. While taking the opportunity, we should think whether we are really serious about it or is it a compulsion for us. Once we identify and select that opportunity for ourselves, it means that door is just visible. We have to then reach that specific door, open it and enter. The most important step which most of us ignore, actually gets triggered here. I have personally seen people getting opportunities and then ignoring the fact that opportunity has come to them after a struggle. The points which I am making here is our commitment. Commitments are the backbones towards achieving the targets or goals. Most people take it for granted and fail to deliver after getting the opportunities because they are not committed.

?If there is a commitment, a person can move a mountain. I am sure we all know the story of Dashrath Manjhi, he is called the mountain man. He was a labour in Bihar when his wife died while crossing a mountain. It took him nearly 20 years to carve a path by cutting the mountain. People mocked him, even his father left him, and he was arrested in between. But he achieved his success and it was only and only because of his commitment.

Let me take you to my old days, more than two decades back. I had just finished lunch and was busy reading a pharmacology book, when I realized someone is standing behind me and keenly watching me. I turned towards him, he was a thin guy of medium height. He smiled and started a conversation with me.

I was actually participating as a volunteer in a bioequivalence study (clinical study) at one of the earliest clinical site established by Ranbaxy. Since I was not having a job at that moment, and money was indeed required, it was an easy way for me to earn some bucks. This was most probably my 3rd or 4th participation in a clinical study as a volunteer. It was a long duration study, wherein I had to stay initially for seven days in the unit. The seven days stay was followed by a washout period of seven days during which the subjects could leave the unit. Once the washout period gets over, the subjects had to spend seven more days in the unit. The volunteers or in fact the subjects, are not allowed to leave the premises during the course of study as per scientific needs and regulatory requirements. The best part was that for those seven plus seven days in the unit, we were free to do anything. There was television, there were games, there were magazines and there were books. We were a total of 26 subjects, probably I was the odd one out. I was fond of pharmacology during my college days and that was the reason I had picked up that book and was busy in reading.

The thin guy, who was keenly watching me, introduced himself as Raj. Raj was working as secretary to the Head of Bioequivalence unit in Ranbaxy and his office was in the main R&D building which was around 5 kms from the clinical unit. During his introduction, Raj told me that he did overtime at the clinical unit because as per him he had the capability of doing more. After a few minutes of conversation, it looked like we knew each other well, we discussed many things including our families. Raj had seen me reading the same book one day before as well and as per him he was surprised to see a volunteer/subject reading a pharmacology book. When he came to know that I had completed my graduation in pharmacy, he was surprised and asked me the reason of being a subject (volunteer) in the clinical study. As per him I should have joined any pharma company, which in fact was right. Unfortunately I was not getting any breakthrough. I had appeared in many interviews, sometimes they didn’t like me and sometime I didn’t like them. Fact of the matter was that I was jobless.

Raj told me that I should try R&D division of Ranbaxy. I am talking of late 90s and during that time, R&Ds used to hire only post graduates and Ph Ds. He was talking about Ranbaxy R&D and during those days Ranbaxy was supposed to be the best in India and a dream company for every pharma student. I asked him a few questions, “Do you think they will hire me, I am just a graduate. Can you help me in getting the job? Will you be recommending me?” During the whole conversation, there was a smile on his face. He answered me very politely, “Arshad, I can only guide you but don’t expect I can recommend you. Yes you can get a job in R&D even if you are a graduate, but you will have to clear the interview”. He gave me the address of R&D and name of the person whom I was supposed to give my resume.

Initial seven days duration of the study was over. I took a copy of my resume and proceeded to Ranbaxy R&D. I somehow reached that person whose name was given to me by Raj and I handed over my resume to him. I was then expecting an interview, or at least a conversation. Surprisingly he kept my resume in his drawer and told me that he will contact me later. During the seven days of study washout I waited for the interview call, but didn’t receive any response. I went to the clinical unit for period 2 admission and stayed there for seven more days. During these seven days, Raj came to the unit a couple of times and we had some good conversations. But one thing which he had made clear was that he would only guide me, but will not recommend me to his boss. He advised me to visit R&D again as soon as I would be free from the clinical study. I did that, met the person in R&D and got the same response that they will call me for an interview.

I met Raj at R&D, seeking his further guidance. He advised me to keep on meeting this person once in a week. I kept on going to R&D premises to meet the person as advised by Raj. The person whom I had given my resume, got fed up of me, sometimes he would meet me and sometimes he would leave message at reception mentioning that I will be called for interview. This continued for almost three months and after three months I was called for the interview. I cleared the interview and I was offered a job of a trainee chemist. It was the lowest grade for any scientist within R&D. When I joined, I found myself junior most in terms of grade and lowest in terms of qualification. I was devastated, I couldn’t talk to anyone. I was feeling quashed. My seniors in the lab were very supportive but somehow I was having an inferiority complex which was suffocating me.

Since this was my dream job, I decided to take this as a challenge. I started spending more time on learning instruments in the lab, learning more about the operating software and learning more about computer proficiency. Whether it was a festival or a weekend, I was in office, learning one or the other thing. After about a year, I was selected to be part of a first submission pivotal study for overseas market. That gave me a boost, my moral became very high and my journey of progress started.

Commitment plays a major role in our lives, be it our personal or professional lives. A person grows in his or her field only because of his / her commitments. We develop and maintain relations because of commitments. We maintain health because of commitments. Competitions are won because of commitments. If we surf the net and we will see millions of examples how commitments have changed the lives. Leave about internet, even if we take a look at us or our surroundings, we will see many such examples. I do remember one of my cousin who had left his studies long back, had failed in his business and was just doing a part-time job. Today he is settled in US with his family. In his late 30s, he again started his studies. He got a scholarship in US, continued his further studies there and got a wonderful job. It was his commitment which made him successful. I remember completing my PhD in just two years’ time which includes qualifying four theory papers, two publications in international journals, completing my project work, preparation and review of my thesis work, pre-submission work and final viva. It was possible only through dedication and commitment. During my PhD, I was married, had one son and was handling a team of more than 60 scientists. The day I got an enrollment letter from the university, my work started on the same day. There was not a single day when I was not working on my project, even if it was for half an hour. I remember during those two years, I had not wasted even a minute. Each minute and hour was important for me and my commitment paid me well.

We might have observed someone in our team to be very casual and not committed. What is our reaction when we see or discuss such cases? Leave about promotions, we don’t want to work with such colleagues. In the same way, if there is no commitment in a relationship, it will fade in due course of time. The relation could be any family relation or even a manager/team relationship.

It is a known fact that when we want to change any of our daily routine or any of our habit, getting out of that routine or out of that specific habit is like pulling ourselves against gravitational force. But once we are away from that gravitational force, the force required becomes lower and lower. This gravitational force is also responsible for keeping us adhered to good habits. Like the positive and negative effects of gravitational pull, commitments also have positive and negative outcomes. Imagine if we have been assigned two important tasks, our commitment towards one task will definitely have an adverse impact on other one. Likewise, if we have more commitments towards work, our family relationship gets impacted and same is the case with vice versa. For that reason it is important for us to keep a balance in our commitments.

To summarize, we should be committed to what we commit to ourselves, to our family or to our organization. If we are committed to something, it pays. Keeping a balance between commitments is necessary, else it will have negative impact on either of the sides.

By

Rd. Arshad H Khuroo

Head Bioavailability and Bioequivalence