AFVOA Newsletter 03 of 2020

Section 5 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 03 / 2020 Page 100 of 167 Well, is there a knot that calls for celebrations? Yes, it is the Nuptial Knot. Tying of the Nuptial knot is an occasion of joy and celebrations. As per our Tamil culture three knots are to be tied on the Mangasutra by the groom but in actuality only one knot is tied by him and the rest two are by his sisters. All is well that ends well and every one wishes the married couple a happy married life with the hope that they will not end with knotty problems due to marital discord. I joined the IAF in 1975 and till that time I had no exposure to wearing pyjama as a night dress. (We Madarasis are only used to our lungies) During our training days in Air Force Academy, we had to be in the sports ground by 0530 hrs every morning for our health run and physical fitness routines. This is where my knotty problems with the pyjama string started. In my hurry to get in to my PT rig, I would pull the wrong end of the pyjama string and by the time the knots were sorted out I would invariably be late and end up being punished. To tide over this problem, before going to bed, I would first put on my PT rig and over this the pyjama night suit. Also a pair of scissors was ready at hand on my bed side table to cut the pyjama string if the need arises. I am amazed with two sets of people who never seem to have a knotty problem with their hair. One the women with long hair and second the Sardarji’s. Both of them deftly make a knot of their long hair and it would stay in shape till they are unknotted. Women in African countries have a unique style knotting their hair called Bantu knots and perfecting this style requires a lot of patience and practice. While on the subject of hair, I am reminded about the Sadhu clan in our country. These people are always at peace whether their hair is knotted or matted. Whenever I go to a restaurant for dinner I am knots. I am in a dilemma in not being able to decide if I should go for the buffet spread or the a la carte. If it is the a la carte the menu card confuses me with all the exotic names of the dishes and if it is buffet, then awesome spread in front of me makes me indecisive on where to start and what to have. And if I don’t watch what I am eating I am sure to end up with a knotty tummy. So there you are. There are many twist and turns in our life and they end up being knotty problems. It is our experiences which make us wiser and help in unknotting them. To end, even if it is on a morbid note, even a hangman has the knotty problem in hand till he gets the noose ready.