We were very tired as we were touring the Amritsar since early morning, you can catch-up on my earlier story on these previous blogs.
Trip to Amritsar- Day 2 (Part1)
Day-2 (Part-2)
As you had just read how we finished our visit of Golden Temple, Jallianwala Baug and Partition museum. It was now time for us to visit the famous Wagah Border Beating the retreat Ceremony.As the Amritsar heat was killing us so we thought that we conserve our energies for the Wagah border ceremony, hence we decided to go to our Hotel to rest in the comfort of AC for few hours. On the way to the Hotel I negotiated with the Cab driver and we hired a AC cab for 1200 Rs for Pick and drop for Wagah Border. Around 3 pm he picked us up from our Hotel and were on our way to Wagah Border but not before halting enroute at a Restaurant where we grabbed a quick lunch and after a ride of an hour we were at the Attari Stadium.There was a huge crowd scrambling to enter the Arena.
Luckily for us I knew some one who had done the booking for me and we didn’t have to wait out long. There were hardly 25 people ahead of me and we went through the security check , our name verified on the list and we were inside, next we passed through another security check and started to walk towards the Stadium. The mood was full on patriotic. Hum bhi chere per Tiranga paint kar ke tyar the , Mano jaise yudh per ja rahe the
I also bought a tricolour National flag and started to march towards the border. Here again the name on the list was verified and after the verification we were let into the stadium …The last frontier
With lots of anticipation and excitement I entered the stadium and the moment I stepped in, I could feel the buzz, which was simply electrifying. Patriotic Songs were playing loudly on the public music system. The frenzy of the crowd is to be seen to be believed. Tricolour flags were waving everywhere and the colourful clothes of the crowd only added to the festivities of the occasion.
We too got sucked into this environment and were dancing,singing our heart out,madly waving the national flag as if Azaadi aaj hi mili ho Per kya kare ab jo hai so hai !
Soon the announcement was made calling out all the ladies, before I realised I saw my daughter and my wife both a moment back were sitting next to me were there on the road to the border and then what followed brought lumps to my mouth as I saw my daughter and my wife running with the national flag,WOW man, what a feeling! I must say for them, Imagine thousands of people cheering you with bharat mata ki jai roars and you holding the flag and running on India- Pak border.
My daughter all set for the run holding the national flag.
Honestly I was overwhelmed by the whole setup. Do you know what is this Wagah Border ceremony all about. If not then get ready.
History of Wagah Border Ceremony:
Wagah Border Ceremony :
The Wagah Border Ceremony is a military practice carried out by the Indian Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers. The soldiers treat it with absolute seriousness. It begins with a parade by the soldiers from both the sides, ending with a coordinated lowering of the flags of both the nation. As the sun sets, the iron gate is opened, with an infantryman standing in attention at both sides of the gate. The flags of India and Pakistan are lowered simultaneously and then folded. The ceremony ends with a retreat that involves a brusque handshake between soldiers of both the sides followed by the closing of the gate.
Now back to our story, Next we saw was the Soldiers marching and taking their positions. One by one each soldiers from both the countries started to do the drill. Though I have seen this drill on TV many times but watching LIVE with huge crowd, the frenzy of the moment can be felt only sitting there with your Adrenaline shooting right up there is the sky.
I felt this was the most fulfilling day of my life that I was actually saw the Jallianwala baug with my own eyes, and could empathize the pain of thousands who were shot down and on the other hand the release of the emotional patriotic burst at Wagah Border is something I will cherish for many years to come.
Tomorrow I would be saying goodbye to Punjab and moving on to Himachal , Weekend Wanderer never stays still so time for next adventure in mountains in on. Stay tuned for the next part of this Blog Series. Till then Happy reading.
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