'The Turbanator': Nondescript village boy to international coach

Ferozepur, February 10

Manjeet Singh “Ferozpuria” recently shot into the limelight after tying Congress’ Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi’s turban during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Punjab.

His passion for tying turbans has earned him global recognition. Popularly known as “The Turbanator” now, he has organised turban trying training camps in almost 40 countries till date and is one of the most accomplished international turban coach.

Hailing from Malluwala village, Manjeet first got attention when he went to school with a turban at the age of 11. In those days, Manjeet used to wear a 5.5-metre double “pagg”, whose length soon increased to 8 metres.

“When I first wore a turban to school, which was tied by my brother, I was appreciated a lot by my classmates and teachers that it became my passion,” Manjeet said, while adding that he started dreaming of taking this passion worldwide.

“Within no time, I mastered the art of tying turbans and started participating in various competitions,” he added.

“I practised hard to bring my tying time down to three minutes. Soon, I also learnt various styles of tying turbans, including Amritsari, Patiala Shahi and Dumala. After that, I wanted to tie turbans in different situations such as while walking or riding a bike, and eventually succeeded in the same,” said Manjeet.

Later, he started to tie his own turban blindfolded and then went on to tie others’ turbans blindfolded.

Manjeet’s popularity grew manifold. He was often invited as a judge at turban tying competitions all over the world.

“I started getting invitations from Malayasia, Singapore, the United States, Canada, the UK, Germany and other parts of Europe to go there and train people in this art of tying turbans,” said Manjeet.