India-Pakistan border ceremony video

Shiver me Timbers

Hi,

here's a video I shot last year of the famous Wagah border ceremony. It takes place every evening before sun-down. This was shot during Ramazan last year, which is why the Pakistan side is so empty.

Hope you like....

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...akistan+border

snowcrab

very mediaeval

nino

great video...hindustan zindaabad!

batistuta

Quite a bizzare scene but liked by the people on both sides of the border.

mountaintrekker

thanx....for refreshing memories


i've been there....AMRITSAR

may the borders vanish and our planet becomes
ONE WORLD !!

soon ...very soon
(i wanaa see this....before it bcms late for me)

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tacita

does the "beating retreat" (with the border security force) in atari, at the india/pakistan border, still take place each evening? if so, is there any reason not to go and watch it?

in another thread inquiring about the punjab in general, one poster said it was "nothing special". another said (s)he didn't plan to go because it was just a silly display. i just read a description of it in a book i'm reading (Amritsar to Lahore, by Stephen Alter). the scene he describes, and how he felt about it, suggested to me that it would be interesting to see.

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steven_ber

Have a read of the following thread Janice.

Amritsar Trip Report

The bottom part of the first post mentions the border display.

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tacita

thanks, steve. i had searched for "atari", which might explain why i missed that thread. i was delighted to read this poster's more positive recounting of the event, which more nearly comports with that of author stephen alter.

shashank.aggarwal

rather an Atari, you would be better looking for Wagah !!

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dzibead

Michael Palin's DVD series Himalaya covers it in one of the episodes. The whole ceremony is included and it looks pretty entertaining.

tacita

thanks, dzi! i love his travels, especially pole-to-pole. i saw himalaya, but don't recall that scene. then again, i wouldn't have had any context for it at the time. thinks for the tip. into the netflix queue!

tacita

wagha is atari's corresponding station just across the border, on the pakistan side, isn't it? or do you mean that when referring to the rail cross-over point generally, people often just use "wagha"?

the further i get in my current read, "amritsar to lahore", about crossing the border, the farther west i want to go. first i mused about amritsar, then atari. now that the author has passed wagha and made it to lahore, i'm convinced i must go there, too! he'll next go to peshawar, rawalpindi, and islamabad, so i'll likely be adding those, as well.

hfot2

We had learned from a friend that we should go to the VIP seating, but he had not specifically told us where it was.

A young man who later turned out to be the "cheerleader" on the Indian side directed us toward the curb very near the gate, telling us that that was the VIP seating where we should go. It provided an unobstructed view of all the pageantry, although the curb soon proved uncomfortably hard, and it was an awkward angle for photography.

[I don't know what the requirements are for access to this area but if you just look like you know where you are going it will probably work out fine; unless, of course, you want to sit on the bleachers with the crowds of thousands!]

A kind Indian [VIP?] gentleman sitting on the curb invited us to share his space. When I stood to take a photo and others tried to sit at my place, my new friend shooed them away. More important Indian dignitaries were sitting at tables with umbrellas on a grassy area behind our curb.

By the way, I think you can view a portiion of Palin's visit on YouTube - I found it in a link in one of the threads on the border ceremony.

distaff half of hfot2

kimat

I remember watching a documentary on BBC some time back, which was concerned with Indian cuisine and was presented by Madhur Jaffrey. I remember her making Palak Paneer at the Wagha border with the beating of the retreat in the background. I didn't care much about what she cooked although the soldiers said they liked it. Rather it was the ceremony which left an impression on me.

tacita

what an interesting juxtaposition! i was thumbing through some of her cookbooks just last night--she's omnipresent in the indian cooking section. i'd love to see that documentary.