At home - for now. But I was in India 40 days ago. And I need to be in India again in 40 days. Just try to catch me in the picture below. Insane isn't it?
I'm not exactly in the picture... I was at the VIP stand (keep reading...) A few options of where I was:
a) National Cricket Championship finals?
b) The big opening of a Bollywood movie?
c) The annual elephant ride contest?
d) The daily closing of Wagah border?
Some days ago I saw the "closing of the border" ceremony at the India-Pakistan border. It was quite a production - let's be clear here: a Bollywood production. So if you answered B, you deserve a half point.
After spending 10 days in a row facilitating workshops and all sort of intercultural conflicts, I gave myself a break. Where I could go in India, far away from my job and close enough to come back in the next day? Taj Mahal. Despite the fact that I was there 3 times already (and certainly a 4th visit would be worthwhile just to capture a new angle...) I was looking for something a little less hot that the 42C of Delhi.... Go to Amritsar, said the office interns (Belgians and Germans). What's in there for me? They replayed: the Sik Golden Temple and the Wagah Border.
After 6 hours in the Shatahbi Express, I arrived in Amritsar. Around 4:30pm, I joined a shared taxi and headed towards Pakistan (wow, I'm going to Pakistan, or the closest I can get...). As we approached the border (30 km from Amritsar), the area (surprise, surprise) became more and more militarized. The dusty streets of Amritsar gave way to the (irony on) lovely agricultural plains of the countryside (irony off), which in turn gave way to military garrisons and barbed wire fences. It reminded me that the Indians do have problems with the neighbors...
Soon enough, we entered the border area and headed towards the stands ( a 2km walk). The border closing ceremony is such a spectacle that both sides have small stadiums to hold the spectators. If you can say that a place that can easily accommodate 3 thousand people is a small stadium...
The stadium complex is set up so that the guests actually walk parallel to the border before finding his seat in the stands. And at this point, all that separates India from Pakistan is a small rope. Underneath the rope is a fat white obelisk, with a 1 cm-thin line exactly demarcating the border: India/Pak. After taking a good look at the Pakistani side and the gate that separated the two countries, I headed towards the stands.
In Indian tradition (somebody told me later), there was a VIP stand and a “ladies section.” The VIP Section was for people like me: lost western-looking tourists. 12 in total that Monday afternoon. I was feeling quite lonely...
As the soldiers were getting ready, a civilian started to rev up the crowd of several thousand. He would yell Hindustan and the Indian side would shout back Zindabad. As the Indian side was yelling, the Pakistani side countered with Pakistan Zindabad. Not that I'm learning any Hindi, but I had to ask somebody to not look so lost in the production.
National Geographic Snapshot Style
Soon, a group of giant soldiers (for Indian standards) began yelling inside a microphone and I honestly believe there is a six-foot height requirement for border soldiers, which in India is a sort of challenge. But with their population... (better leave soon before they decide to recruit me - mental note). They held a powerful sound for about 30 seconds and then charged towards the border gate. Soon after, other soldiers repeated the process for about 15 minutes. All the time the crowd was amazing. Men and women were patriotically screaming for India as their Pakistani counterparts did the same.
Eventually, the Indian and Pakistani soldiers closed the border: An Indian and Pakistani soldier briefly shook hands as the flags were slowly (I said sloooowly) lowered. They were lowered in such a way so that neither flag flew higher than the other. Soon thereafter, the Indian flag was properly folded, and several soldiers escorted it towards the Border Security Forces building. And then the border was fully closed - I mean they closed the gate. As the process came to an end, the spectators rushed the gate to meet the soldiers.
Somebody told me that no one can actually just cross the border. You have to go to Delhi, ask for a visa, board a train in Atari (like the videogame if you are old enough to remember...) and then you can cross the border, by train.
The whole ceremony takes 30 minutes. More that 3 thousand Indian tourists (and 12 lost western looking people) come everyday to see the spectacle. I wonder for how long it’s been like this [a spectacle]. Obviously, they have been closing the border for years, so I wonder when this whole scene started. When did it stop being just a formality and when did it become a big show? Was it ten years ago? Twenty years ago?
And just to remind the Pakistanis, this is the first sign you read when entering India:
Also in Urdu, just to make sure they understand.
PS. Oi Yen, stop complaining that I don't think of my international readers.
I'm not exactly in the picture... I was at the VIP stand (keep reading...) A few options of where I was:
a) National Cricket Championship finals?
b) The big opening of a Bollywood movie?
c) The annual elephant ride contest?
d) The daily closing of Wagah border?
Some days ago I saw the "closing of the border" ceremony at the India-Pakistan border. It was quite a production - let's be clear here: a Bollywood production. So if you answered B, you deserve a half point.
After spending 10 days in a row facilitating workshops and all sort of intercultural conflicts, I gave myself a break. Where I could go in India, far away from my job and close enough to come back in the next day? Taj Mahal. Despite the fact that I was there 3 times already (and certainly a 4th visit would be worthwhile just to capture a new angle...) I was looking for something a little less hot that the 42C of Delhi.... Go to Amritsar, said the office interns (Belgians and Germans). What's in there for me? They replayed: the Sik Golden Temple and the Wagah Border.
After 6 hours in the Shatahbi Express, I arrived in Amritsar. Around 4:30pm, I joined a shared taxi and headed towards Pakistan (wow, I'm going to Pakistan, or the closest I can get...). As we approached the border (30 km from Amritsar), the area (surprise, surprise) became more and more militarized. The dusty streets of Amritsar gave way to the (irony on) lovely agricultural plains of the countryside (irony off), which in turn gave way to military garrisons and barbed wire fences. It reminded me that the Indians do have problems with the neighbors...
Soon enough, we entered the border area and headed towards the stands ( a 2km walk). The border closing ceremony is such a spectacle that both sides have small stadiums to hold the spectators. If you can say that a place that can easily accommodate 3 thousand people is a small stadium...
The stadium complex is set up so that the guests actually walk parallel to the border before finding his seat in the stands. And at this point, all that separates India from Pakistan is a small rope. Underneath the rope is a fat white obelisk, with a 1 cm-thin line exactly demarcating the border: India/Pak. After taking a good look at the Pakistani side and the gate that separated the two countries, I headed towards the stands.
In Indian tradition (somebody told me later), there was a VIP stand and a “ladies section.” The VIP Section was for people like me: lost western-looking tourists. 12 in total that Monday afternoon. I was feeling quite lonely...
As the soldiers were getting ready, a civilian started to rev up the crowd of several thousand. He would yell Hindustan and the Indian side would shout back Zindabad. As the Indian side was yelling, the Pakistani side countered with Pakistan Zindabad. Not that I'm learning any Hindi, but I had to ask somebody to not look so lost in the production.
National Geographic Snapshot Style
Soon, a group of giant soldiers (for Indian standards) began yelling inside a microphone and I honestly believe there is a six-foot height requirement for border soldiers, which in India is a sort of challenge. But with their population... (better leave soon before they decide to recruit me - mental note). They held a powerful sound for about 30 seconds and then charged towards the border gate. Soon after, other soldiers repeated the process for about 15 minutes. All the time the crowd was amazing. Men and women were patriotically screaming for India as their Pakistani counterparts did the same.
Eventually, the Indian and Pakistani soldiers closed the border: An Indian and Pakistani soldier briefly shook hands as the flags were slowly (I said sloooowly) lowered. They were lowered in such a way so that neither flag flew higher than the other. Soon thereafter, the Indian flag was properly folded, and several soldiers escorted it towards the Border Security Forces building. And then the border was fully closed - I mean they closed the gate. As the process came to an end, the spectators rushed the gate to meet the soldiers.
Somebody told me that no one can actually just cross the border. You have to go to Delhi, ask for a visa, board a train in Atari (like the videogame if you are old enough to remember...) and then you can cross the border, by train.
The whole ceremony takes 30 minutes. More that 3 thousand Indian tourists (and 12 lost western looking people) come everyday to see the spectacle. I wonder for how long it’s been like this [a spectacle]. Obviously, they have been closing the border for years, so I wonder when this whole scene started. When did it stop being just a formality and when did it become a big show? Was it ten years ago? Twenty years ago?
And just to remind the Pakistanis, this is the first sign you read when entering India:
Also in Urdu, just to make sure they understand.
PS. Oi Yen, stop complaining that I don't think of my international readers.
