If you think your high school or college or even professional sports team has a rivalry, you’ll think again after witnessing an evening ritual on the India-Pakistan Border near Amritsar. It is the ultimate throw down.
There are stadiums built on either side of the imaginary line where people from both countries gather each evening to watch the flag retiring ceremony. However, the ceremony is more than any flag ceremony you’ve ever seen. It isn’t just goose-stepping soldiers and stiff, swift flag-folding movements, but it is like you’re watching a dance off.
One side goes up and challenges the other and then gets challenged back until finally the gates are open, the flags come down, and they gesture their supremacy on either side. It is fascinating to watch this friendly tradition especially when you know that this border doesn’t have the warmest relations. It is also fascinating to see such a difference in national cultures.
On the Indian side, it was like a party or Bollywood film with a DJ who acted like a cheerleader or yell leader. On the Pakistan side it was like watching old Soviet propaganda or the famous Apple commercial from the 80s. In India, people were mingled together, a bit of chaos reigned with heavy hands to reel it in, and women danced in the street while we waited for it to commence. In Pakistan, the men went to one side of the stadium, the women to the other. Don’t get me wrong about Pakistan. They were full of patriotic fervor; they just showed it in a very different way than the festive crowd on our side.
This retreat ceremony, as they call it, has been going on for decades. It is a must-do if you’re anywhere near the vicinity. It is also highly regulated, so be sure you make the necessary arrangements. However, they expect it to grow. India was adding more bleachers when we were there to accommodate almost twice the number of spectators.
This trip to the border with Pakistan was the whipped cream and cherry on top after the Golden Temple for our Spring Festival in India. With an overnight train we were back in Delhi for some last minute sightseeing pit stops before heading back to China.
