I heard the saying that “first impression is the best” when I was called for a personal interview for a bank officer’s job. My father told me that in such interviews success is based on the first impression one creates on interviewers. So like everyone, I put on an act and gave a “good impression” to the board who picked me.
Later on, as a banker while meeting customers who approach for loans I used to depend on the prospective client’s first impression to take a decision. But this wasn’t always correct. One day a man clad in a dirty dhoti with bare torso came for a loan to buy a bullock cart and bullocks. Looking at him I got the impression he was below the poverty line and was quite probably leading a hand-to-mouth existence. To trust him with `10,000 (this was in 1985) was something I baulked at. But he looked at me and said quietly, “Sir I will repay the loan even if I and my family have to starve.” I was not still convinced but on the advice of my branch head I approved the loan. It turned out to be one of the best performing loans. There was not a single default.
While traveling by train once, I met a gentleman dressed in crumpled clothes and who seemed to be illiterate. When the ticket examiner came, he could not find his ticket for some time as he fumbled in his pockets before handing it over. I guessed he was some poor farmer not used to the modern ways of the world. After some time I began to engage in a conversation with him. I was quite astonished when he told me he was a senior scientist with the Indian Space Research Organisation and that he was going home after being abroad for one year or so.
On-board a flight once, I met a man who was behaving poorly. He jumped the queue while checking in inviting dirty looks. He came rushing to the head of the line when the boarding call was made. He was seated next to me; all through the two-hour flight he slouched in his seat with a scornful expression. When the air hostess came with a glass of water he refused it brusquely. I felt he was a most boorish person. Even before the flight landed he was up from his seat ignoring the repeated requests of the flight personnel to remain seated. I could hear him arguing with the air hostess demanding the door be opened. He was first off the plane. While making my way out I casually asked the young hostess standing by the steps, “Do you often get such passengers?” She said, “Sir, he is rushing to see his son who met with an accident yesterday and died.” I felt small and ashamed.
Experiences in life have taught me that first impressions are not always right. It is not dress or behaviour or talk that reflect a person. We may easily get misled by outward signs and misunderstand a person. I’ve found it is always better to reserve one’s judgment about a person until one gets to know more about him or her.