The Wagah Border Crossing

 

Kicking up their heels at the Wagah Border closing ceremony (photo from Getty Images)

     I was expecting something somber, but it was anything but that.  Known as "beating retreat," it's a display of military pageantry and patriotism like no other.  It takes place every afternoon at the India-Pakistani border, at the Wagah crossing.  

    Before lowering the flags to mark the official closing, honor guards from both nations goosestep out proud as peacocks, sprouting headresses like cockbirds.  Meeting at the border line, they face off, square off and engage in a display of kicks, jumps and pumping of fists -- all aimed at both recognizing their neighbors and perhaps antagonizing them as well.

     Cheerleaders on both sides brandish bullhorns, wave flags and generally egg on the crowds.  And the crowds, they are substantial.  Grandstands on both sides resemble those in football stadiums.  The mood overall resembles a tailgate party: vendors hawk chips, popcorn, teeshirts, lassi and milk tea, patriotic caps and flags.  People line up to have their faces painted in national colors.  

The border with the closing spectacle in progress.  The Pakistanis are in the foreground, in the darks; the Indians away, in the Khakis.     (photo by Guilhem Vellut, Flickr) 

       

     As ceremony time approaches, I wince at how loud it is -- a mix of cheering, chanting and marching orders interspersed with blaring national anthems and Bollywood sound tracks.  What a lead-up!

      Suddenly the India side erupts en masse with "HINDUSTAN ZINDABAD!" (Long Live India!)  The Pakistan side counters with "PAKISTAN ZINDABAD! (Long Live Pakistan!)  People dance, jump up and down, bang on bleachers with sandals and shoes.  On and on it goes, one side trying to outdo the other until, ceremony concluded, flags are lowered and the metal gates closed.

     The energy of the thing is contagious.  I was infused with it.   I found myself yelling along with them even though I didn't know what I was yelling for!  

       

Your humble correspondent on the India side.  You wouldn't see this sign across the border, believe me.

     Despite such a display, it's one of the most contentious borders in the world.  As for why, quite simply both countries despise each other.  Largely Hindu India butts up against largely Muslim Pakistan.  It's largely vegetarians verses largely meat-eaters.  The itemizing of differences could go on and on.  

     Almost never does a person from one side cross over, which is made all the more difficult because Wagah is the only border crossing between the two countries.  Ask locals if they've ever been over and faces go blank.  You may as well be enquiring about the far side of the moon.  Such is the emnity and the spite between them.

     Yet somehow they've found a way to come together for this ceremony.  It's a chance for one side to see the other and realize that they're not really two-headed monsters.  Besides the political posturing, it's a reliever of tension, a pressure relief valve.  For two powers with nuclear weapons pointed at each other, all in all a sane thing to do.

Sign after clearing customs and emerging onto the Pakistani side.

Billboard showing one of the frequent border patrols.  

     Unfortunately the barriers don't only inhibit Indians and Pakistanis -- it was difficult for me to get across as well.  If fact, if I had known all that was involved, I wouldn't even have tried.  

     Officials rejected my visa application three times over the course of as many weeks.  I had to pay out a hundred-and-some dollars in fees and processing, plus go through bureaucratic gibberish.  Then it only zinged into my inbox a day or so before I was set to cross.  But come through it did.  I downloaded it and caught a taxi into Lahore, the second largest city in Pakistan.

What I had to go through to get this!

Where I stayed -- one of the few places there for budget travelers such as me.

A Pakistani elder giving the traditional hand-to-heart greeting.

     Understand that I was only there a week and I did not range broadly throughout the country.  I stayed in Lahore, fifteen miles from the border, and took day-trips out from there.  Keeping this in mind, my experience was that if the Pakistani people are not the most pleasant of peoples, they are certainly among them.

   Because I travel solo, usually I am the one who has to reach out -- to initiate a conversation, to ask for directions, etc.  But not in Pakistan.  No-sireee.  

   Time and again I'd be sitting outside eating or scrutinizing the map in the metro (subway) and soon two, three, even half a dozen people would cluster around to help or engage in conversation.  Most of these times, questions would come at me about America -- what we think, why we do certain things and so on.  Occasionally, with all the attention, I found it hard to be alone, even when I wanted to be! 

Sajjad, tour guide, before the mausoleum of Jahangir, a Mughal emperor

    

Crop fields along the famous Grand Trunk Road leading to the border.  It was hard to find even a rock there, the soil's so good.

     I happened to be there Sept. 29th, the birthday of Muhammad or "the Prophet," as he's known in that part of the world, the founder of Islam.  It was celebrated with feasting, fireworks, parades and expressions of goodwill, such as the handing out of sweets to wayward men from Pennsylvania.  It reminded me of Christmas or Thanksgiving in the U.S.    

     As for the attention that I was attracting there and elsewhere, I came to realize that I was an exotic, a skin color and a nationality rarely seen, much less talked to in person.  After checking my passport and papers at the border earlier, one Pakistani official summed it up: "My, my, we don't see many of you here."

    What I say to that is, fine and dandy.  That's a reason I travel, to see and to experience something different, different cultures and different people.  For the most part on this trip to India and Pakistan, I surely did.

     Thanks to all who followed along for all three parts of this.  Your feedback and support was much appreciated.

    Viewing Suggestion:  It is difficult to appreciate the Wagah Border Ceremony soley through still photos.  Those interested can view various videos on YouTube, which better capture the color and excitement of the event.

    Cautionary Note:  I left Pakistan a week before the breakout of the Israel/Hamas War on October 7th of this year.  The mood toward Americans may have changed there since then.

END OF SERIES ON INDIA/PAKISTAN