Blog

My grandfather and later my father also separately were running medical shops. In fact, Grand father’s shop was right in front of the Government General hospital, the first of its kind in Wadakkanchery/Ottupara and around area, which is 16 km from Thrissur town. Then the shop also had to have a dispensary room attached because the qualified pharmacist (Grandpa himself) were to mix some medicines in required quantities and combinations to make the prescribed medicine as off the shelf ones were not available on many medicines then, unlike now almost all medicines are supplied by companies thru distributors.
Then the relationship with doctors at the hospital was very cordial by the medical distributors and shop owners as well. Medical representatives were giving small gifts like a desktop company calendar (paper only, with advertisements of their flagship products they distribute) on some occasions. The intention was to make the doctors remember the medicines, those they have stocked in the near by shops to boost business. I remember on every Christmas, my Grandpa too used to distribute cakes along with a wall calendar (earlier even without the photo of his shop!) to each doctors at the hospital. Later the competition increased, naturally with some of the doctors as well as distributing company’s greed! Those gifts were of small costs, grown to like house hold items like fridge, AC, cooler, washing machine, etc to influence doctors who prescribed additional medicines too like a general health tonic even if the patient consulted them for mere common cold! 🤷‍♂

Medical shops got doubled/tripled and the competition as well! Hence some doctors started recommending a particular shop to their patients to buy! Reason is obvious! While My grandfather continued to stay traditional, while medical representatives started tie up with doctors and medical shops with vested interests lead doctors demanding tour packages earlier and then later into direct cash from the medical companies thru the medical representatives. Shops started piling up fast moving general medicines like tonics and both doctors and medical representatives started keeping account of their prescribed medicines and exchange money accordingly between them! Of course unethical practices like low quality medicines, unwanted prescriptions etc got introduced! My grandfather never entertained ghost medicines and used to shout away the medical representatives who tried to sell those ghost medicines with huge discounts like order 12 and keep 3 additional free or give money only if the medicines gets sold off! Of course sales at my grandfather’s shop might have affected adversely but the location of his shop, right in front of the hospital main gate was a huge advantage! although my father’s shop were facing challenges but managed somehow due to the relationship they developed with customers. My grandfather was better in doing business than my father! After the demise of my grandfather the shop was run by my father’s younger brother who was helping grandfather at the shop but in few months sold off the shop. Before my father’s death itself his shop was closed. Probably Grandfather was the piller giving confidence to my father in his business. Before that too he had tried to run a bakery at the very same place but not very successful though except during Christmas season! I was the only one were not destined to be at the shop and come out of our traditional business, though I vividly remember on helping at both shops after school or especially during my school vacations! In that era, they used to remember the stock and location of the medicines at the shelves by heart! Now everything is on computers which is easy for anyone to run a shop by just having a pharmacy license for one! 🥴

Thank you for triggering the good old memories 🙏🏻

Btw. My grandfather’s was Central Medical Stores at Ottupara, and my ancestral home was right behind, adjacent to the shop, the entry to house was mostly thru the shop though there was a side entrance! Admire my grandfather who hardly had a good sleep at nights as people come to the closed shop to bang on the grill to get medicines even at midnights, apart from acute medical cases at the hospital like accidents, suicide attempts etc. at times some patients ask for some small general medicines like Vicks in the middle of night which made him angry though he supplied it after coming out of bed. Grandpa was knowledgeable almost like a doctor and patients at times comes to him without seeing a doctor for the mixer he makes at the dispensary! Waterberry’s compound like some medicines had good alcohol content was favourite for some especially during prohibition! 😊 അന്തോണ്യേട്ടാ (Anthony cheta!), I do remember those request calls him to get the “medicines“, and to the known he entertained their demand but unknown guys, he used shew them away!
My father’s shop was Baby Medicals at Wadakkanchery erstwhile Baby & Babu Medicals, later Play light Bakery..

Memories starting to flow in…

Guess its time to write about these too apart from an autobiography on my 40+ years of IT career, which faced ups and downfalls as well like Bhopal tragedy, Indira Gandhi assassination time etc, Bombay, Bhopal, Ujjain, Mumbai, Coimbatore, USA, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur…continue to live through; Not out, yet!!
Thank God for all his interventions when needed 🙏🏻