The Sari fiasco

This is a recent incident...or I'd rather say I shall never forget it. It is about the time when I was working and we had these 'behavioural' trainings that had to be completed in order to have a good appraisal. I have always wondered how effective these trainings really are...but anyway, this is not a discussion about that. This is about our faculty or trainer for our training on Assertiveness, or something on those lines. I have never been good at fancy names...but it did make me quite sure of myself for the next few days...and rather careful too...about dressing, if I may add. Though in a week's time the sure part wore off...but the other lesson lies embedded in my mind till this date and will always be.
"A safety pin is a woman's best friend."
Before I write any further, I would like to add that this is being written in good humour and...what the heck, I dont think the person involved will ever get to this article...I dont even remember her name now...though she was a helluva person. Not seen many ppl as dynamic and dedicated as her.
She was in her late forties, or early fifties...smart, intelligent and very very enthusiastic. Hers was one of the few trainings I didn't sleep through. She was outstanding ! About average height and more than average build, she was due to come to our class of 20 students at 10:00AM. But as luck would have it she was running late and managed to whoosh into the class at almost 10:30 apologising profusely about the delay and starting almost immediately with the classes without as much as gaining breath. She was smartly and tastefully dressed in a Bengali cotton sari (the ones with tiny checks on them) appropriately starched. Reading glasses on her head, joined by a chain so that they could be found in times of dire need, she really must have had a very high number, coz the glasses were as thick as window panes. A Titan watch, two gold rings and a chain in the neck were all the jewellery she wore and plain almost flat sandals to facilitate her running around while teaching. The moment she entered the class, she exuded energy, the otherwise dreary day seemed bright now...she came rushing in through the entrance towards the blackboard...going past all us students, 19 men (of all ages) and 1 girl, me.
It was right then that it had struck me, that she inadvertently limped after every 5 steps she took, sometimes, 6. Initially I figured it must be some handicap and tried to ignore it, but later, it dawned on me that she was perfectly normal. The 'handicap' was the sari, which was a little longer and would try its best to get entangled with her feet...and I must admit, it did a pretty good job at that! But the Madam being so totally engrossed with her work, her teaching and us, did not have time to pay attention to such petty issues. Every time the sari would get tangled, she would do a tiny hop and be able to dodge the hanging end only to get it tangled again in a few minutes time. I tried hard to tell her but thought it inappriopriate to do so, the lady was virtually as old as my mother and you dont tell them how to wear saris do you? So I kept mum...while she went on with her hopping and walking and teaching routine...till at one point of time, when she walked towards the board, a small spread of the sari lagged behind her like the tail of a mermaid....right from between her feet. It was only then that the men and boys around started taking notice...though all they could figure out was that it was a queer way to wear a sari.
I on the other hand was close to panic, if I did not telll her now, in a few seconds time, the whole class would. But alas, this was not to be, and before I could reach her, all the pleats of the sari lay sprawled on the ground. That was the time when she was about to start a documentary on the projector and right then, the lights were turned off ! Some luck I must say ! She sat down flat on her chair, which she hadn't used in the past 6 hours and stared at the video on screen while I rushed to her and told her of the situation. She was mighty more panicked than I was! I whispered into her ear about going to the wash room and handed her a safety pin. And I have never ever seen anyone vanish out of site and come back again in a millionth of a second...everything restored to normalcy...even before the guys could start snickering about the whole thing. She thanked me later for the pin...and said to me, safety pins are godsend. That would make me an angel wouldn't it?