High kicks at the border

Trip Start Oct 31, 2009
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Trip End Feb 25, 2010


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Flag of India  , Punjab,
Sunday, November 15, 2009

Onto the border with Pakistan, not to cross given the current issues there, but to watch the border formalities. Yes, that's right the border formalities at the one road crossing between India and Pakistan have become a tourist attraction.

There was much jostling and pushing to get into the grandstands that line the border on either side. A full house for the border closing ceremony. On the India side school kids run around with Indian flags, and a large group of Indian women dance joyfully to Bollywood music - surely no accident as you can see across to Pakistan where the women sit in veils in a separate stand, watching a more martial display of soldiers with the Pakistani flag.

Once the compere has got the crowd suitably worked up shouting "long live Hindustan!" the soldiers take the field and the  main border closing ceremony begins.  Extravagantly uniformed soldiers from both sides matching in a very exaggerated fashion, great high kicks, thumping their chest - all in a display of coordinated machismo aimed across the border. It is a very bizarre sight, part comic opera, part political rally and not a little camp. After about 15 minutes of this the flags of the two nations are lowered at exactly the same time, and the border is shut. The formal part over there are slightly ugly scenes as a load of Indian youths surge to the fence to taunt the Pakistanis.

Afterwards we head back to Amritsar for a comfortable overnight sleeper train back to Delhi - stacked in bunk beds three high.
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Comments

bath mate on Dec 21, 2009 at 09:14AM

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Bathmate

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