As a subaltern, I had the privilege of being posted in the Tamil Nadu state. To be precise, I was posted at the Air Force Station at Tambaram and the unit was Air Force flying Instructors School (AFIS). it was a baptism which I have never forgotten. To start by virtue of being a member of an elite service.I was immediately given the membership of the Madras Gymkhana., one of the premier clubs in  India established by the 'Goraji' during the days of the Raj.

Getting into this elite Institute was like the opening Ali Baba's cave, it gives us the magical key to social intercourse with the elite of the city of Madras, the name Chennai came much later. I was not new to the state of Tamil Nadu as I have had my early education at the Stanes High School at Coimbatore.Later as Squadron leader, I had the privilege of attending the Defence Services Staff College in the Nilgiri mountains at Wellington close to the hill station of put Ootacammand.

Relationships

I observed another major social more, my flight commander and the CO of AFIS had both married Tamil girls. Later I came to know they were Brahmins. Obviously, they were very happy. This was my first brush with the social interaction where I observed that many Tamil girls were marrying North Indian Punjabi men or boys. This phenomenon is not confined to the film world, wherein right from the time of Vyjayanthimala to  Sridevi, not forgetting Hema Malini have married Punjabi men. One can say that there is some fetish for Tamil girls and Punjabi men. During almost two decades of my service in the Air Force, I have the distinction of observing this singular aspect where many officers had married Tamil girls. I will add that as far as the Airforce is concerned an equal number have married girls from Meghalaya, which has the  Eastern Air Command, at Shillong

Talking about personal experience, I had the fortune or being introduced to some of the top echelon society girls. My facilitator was a local Tamil friend of mine who had studied with me at the  Stanes High school and was now a fairly big merchant involved in export-import in Madras. It is not important to take any name but I can add that this was the most relaxing time of my life. I had a senior colleague a Flying Officer and he confided that he was going to marry Tamil girl brahmin. I accepted to be his witness at the court marriage which subsequently took place. The girl's parents were against the match but later relented and give a big reception to their guests and relations. Now that so many decades have passed, I have been wondering as to what could be the reason that so many girls from Tamilnadu who come in contact with Punjabi men end up being their wives. Basically, I feel this is a good thing and a sign that such unions help the so-called north-south language divide to weaken. I think this an excellent recipe for national integration. I hope in the years to come, the question as to which state or which caste you belong to will go away. India would be one big Cauldron  like the USA

Mutual attraction

Just as Tamil girls are attracted to Punjabi men, so also North Indian Punjabis have a fascination for Tamil girls. There is a big language divide but this is overcome by the natural attraction that exists between these two classes in India. I wonder If sociologists can study this aspect of the relationships in India. As already mentioned there are also a lot of young Khasi girls from Meghalaya who marry  Air Force personnel while in the army Naga girls marry many army officers.  Most of these marriages endure and that is the best part of this entire scenario. My personal memories have been the subject of many of my stories which have been published abroad and in India, I will just say that there seems to be a mutual attraction between Tamil girls and Punjabi men. Why should it be there is a question that is not worth answering and one can only say India has a nation has to move forward. Closer home my nephew just had a love marriage with a Tamil girl who a student from the IIT at Madras. 

This is just a light heart article, and I hope many will read it with an open mind.