India-Pakistan border ceremony video

freenote

As hfot2 (if i spelt it right) has said , head for the VIP area .we got it wrong and missed it and ended up in the maddening throng .Their was a small bit of concern when the lady behind , dressed in a sari and definitely of Indian extraction ,with a wonderful wolverhampton UK accent started to get very worried about the risk of stampede ,It was a little packed

trvl_in

The Wagah / Atari border gate closing exercise is a must see event if you find yourself at Amritsar. You can join a day trip leaving from the gates of the Golden Temple. I paid 75 rupees all in, including round trip transport, a reliable and cheery guide, and some intriguing side stops (only one tourist shop stop, which was welcome as a western style loo was on offer).

As for VIP seating mentioned below, as a foreign visitor you can easily "crash" the VIP section simply by placing an enthusiastic expression on your face while pointing your camera. There's no physical barrier, and nobody cares if you "crash", provided that you are polite and are careful to get "your" view without blocking anyone else's.

From the security standpoint, it's not at all tense, going, coming, or while you're there. The atmosphere is precisely like attending a good natured football match, with choruses of cheers for "our side" clearly audible from the crowds on both sides of the border.

It's not likely to be a life altering experience, but it definitely makes for a fun day trip.

GauhatiBoy

Stephen Alter?? I went to school with him, just barely as he was some years older than I.

Is that the same Stephen Alter who had a minor role in the movie "Gandhi"?

Or maybe I am confused, there was Tom Alter, Bob Alter, Stephen, Andy, Joe . . .

tacita

that's precisely the sense of the event that i got from stephen alter's description. however, on the occasion of his visit, things did become very tense at the end. i so hope my visit there comes to fruition--sounds like a fun filed trip from amritsar.

thanks again for all your kind replies.

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tacita

ha--wow! so you went to the woodstock school?

actually, the actor is tom alter, stephen's cousin. tom's brother, john, is the chair of my nephew's boarding school's english department (in connecticut, US), and he's just returned from visiting the alter home in mussoorie. (john took his daughter and my nephew.) my nephew said they met tom alter in delhi. he took them to the british high court, and people everywhere asked for is autograph. needless to say, this rather impressed my nephew! his school (gunnery) offers a semester at the woodstock school and, having now tasted india, my nephew is sick that he didn't elect to do it. but then, until the alters came along, my family didn't quite "get" my interest in india. so off the kid goes to play tabla in mussoorie. back home, he now burns incense 24/7!

stephen's written a few books, his most recent is on the humble pachyderm, and is titled "elephus maximus." i gave it to my sister as a gift...i think she's still wondering why.

life's just full of delightful coincidence, isn't it?

anyway, as a result of all this, i now must visit amritsar on my way to dharamsala and, of course, visit mussoorie as well.

so you went to the woodstock school?

GauhatiBoy

Yeah I went to Woodstock School, class of '80

Man, some well known people went to school there. I'm just a 9-5 guy myself.

My sis went there too and she chats on this site with the name "Anondi". That's her actual middle name, which I think is cool.

shashank.aggarwal

Is popularly referred to as Wagah Border in India as well !!

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brownboy66

hmmm...likewise I watched a discovery documentary the other night that had Sanjeev Bhaskar from the British Comedy "the Kumars at No 42" travelling to Amritsa, the border crossing, and the Golden Temple. Turns out Sanjeev's Father was from a village just across the boarder in Pakistan and had moved to india during partitioning. This was the first time anyone in the family had been back to their original village in 60 years. The ceremony at the border looked amazing - and the retracing of his fathers steps back to the village in Pakistan was very moving (especially when Sanjeev made a phone call to his father from the village). There was also a part where Sanjeev talked to a village elder at the golden temple about the trauma of partitioning. Again - very moving...

As a result - visiting the border crossing is definitely on our to do list....

Shiver me Timbers

Hi,

here's a video I made of the event from the Pak side 2 years ago........

India-Pakistan border ceremony video

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tacita

you guys are utterly amazing -- thanks!

connor, great video! you gotta love those exotic uniforms on the pakistani side. when i went to the link, there was a listing of other, related, videos that had been uploaded. (i really need to figure out how to upload mine of the tibetan buddhist losar chaams dances at rumtek monastery last february, among others i shot.

thanks again to all for these intriguing and helpful replies.

fsg

JEEZ all in 3 weeks. you could spend 3 weeks in Amritsar, equally in Musorie, and tho I have not been there yet, Dharamsala........

Get an Indian husband and then ........?.

I have enjoyed the ALTER Books immensly..... Have you tried Bill Aitken, another traveller with Mussorie roots

tacita

i know, i know...it's shameless!

i'm working on it, i'm working on it!

(actually, i'm a solo act, methinks!)

haven't read aitken...perhaps after alter. thanks for the tip.

capt_mahajan

On Aitken, suggest 'Footloose in the Himalaya'.

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hfot2

Have you read the novel The Sari Shop by Rupa Bajwa? It takes place in Amritsar. A good read but pretty depressing.

Dilliwala

Stephen finished at WS around 1968, and unless u entered KG at WS the same year, u cudn't have gone to school with him, and what are the chances that u knew who he was in KG? U're probably thinking of his bros, Joe and Andy. Bob is the father - principal in your time, probably?