Knotty Knots

Friendship day slipped by. Yeah, ever since people found out I am turning thirty this year, they are giving me the slip on Friendship day. Raksha Bandhan is coming. I heard a lot about that this year. Guys can finally look me in the eye and discuss ‘rakhi’ designs, now that my third decade is beginning. Both these days stand for a lasting bond between two people. Moreover, the symbol signifying this bond is also similar, a piece of material tied around the wrist. But then, it is impossible to ignore how opposite the bonds being formed here are. While one is long lasting friendship with blurred edges, the other is a concrete pledge of protection between a brother and a sister. In fact, the latter is a lot about protecting from the blurred edges of the first.

Shahrukh Khan immortalized Friendship day in India after ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.’ If you are a girl, I am sure you have been approached by a guy in your lifetime with one of the three questions: “Will you make friendship with me?” “Will you have friendship with me?” “Will you do friendship with me?” Didn’t those words in bold make you squirm back then? For those who are still grappling with these questions, take a would-be-hag’s advice (now that there is no chance that I’ll use it myself) the best answer should be, “Meet me on Raksha Bandhan, I’ll show you what I can make, have and do.” Trust me, nothing scares the average Indian boy more than the ‘rakhi.’ So next time, don’t hesitate to tear your dupatta in full Hindi movie heroine style to tie the piece on your suitor’s wrist. But hey, don’t forget to let him know which tie it is.

I don’t have any brothers. But I still bought ‘rakhis’ for my neighbours and football partners, and ruined some pretty good cases for myself. That happens a lot in India, don’t you think? Flashback hormone ridden High school. Boy meets girl, or in another version, both grow up in the same school. You can see air molecules dance to romantic Bollywood numbers whenever they meet. Wit b-boys and bounces off their tongues whenever they talk. Their eyes twinkle and shimmer when they greet each other. And lo behold, one fateful day, the girl ties a ‘rakhi’ on the boy’s wrist. Its like a bad ending to a good movie. And why would they do that? But you can only realize with jaw dropping disappointment that they don’t know that they have chemistry. And now that the ‘rakhi’ has been tied all possibilities in those directions just got strangled shut.

Not always though. Did I ever mention that I belong to Tezpur? Its a small town in Assam, but if there ever was a romance ridden place on the planet, its Tezpur. The escapades that take place there are unbelievable. Someday I’ll write a piece on that place. I owe my birth place that much. For now, just one story. This girl who was taking private tuitions from a young fellow was getting rather interested in her lessons. The tutor seemed eager too. The girl’s parents, (they were after all Tezpurians) smelled a pretty amorous rat. They promptly made the girl tie a ‘rakhi’ on her tutor’s wrist and then breathed easy. The years passed. The lessons continued. The girl finished her studies. She and her tutor sadly parted ways. But as the girl’s parents now looked for a suitable groom for her, they suddenly came to know that the young tutor now had a steady government job. Suddenly, he became a prospective bachelor with a decent income. They decided to untie the knot that broke their daughter’s heart, to tie another. Those two are a pretty happy couple even now, with beautiful kids and all.

I guess Destiny does intervene when presumptuous human beings are creating ways to stop evolution. So girls and boys, choose the knot wisely: sainya or bhaiya!!