Wagah Border

Wagah is the name of the village which in 1947 became the only legal road crossing between a newly demarcated Indian and Pakistan.  The village is just east of Lahore, and the border crossing has become the place of a daily ceremony between India and Pakistan to mark the flag lowering and closing of the border for the night.  The ceremony has evolved into a daily patriotic competition with stadiums located on both sides.  As far as I can tell, it has been going on since 1959 but has become more elaborate over time.  Patriotic “cheerleaders” and music compete with each other up until the time that the Indian Border Security Force and the Pakistan Rangers process to the border and do “goose-marching” which ends as each takes down their respective flag.  Of course, both sides have to decide on the choreography because they are mirror images of each other. 

 I went to the Wagah border with a group of colleagues.  One of my Pakistani colleagues told me that the Pakistani Rangers were much better than the Indian Border Security Force.  I told him I would withhold judgement.  As you approach the border from the Pakistan side, you go under a gate that says, “Gate to Freedom” or something similar.  On the Indian side, the words on their stadium say, “India’s First Line of Defense.”  You get the idea…

 We had front row seats and as the stadiums on both sides filled up, the last individuals ran to cross the border before the ceremony began. 

The Pakistani “cheerleaders” and loudspeakers roused the crowd in Pakistani patriotic songs.  One of the cheerleaders, with only one leg, twirled as the crowd cheered and sang.  We wondered if there was a one-legged cheerleader on the other side since everything had to be a mirror image.

Pakastani Rangers

 By the end, I did report to my Pakistani colleague that I was now convinced that there was absolutely no reason to ever go to India and that the Rangers were far superior.  At the same time, another American was yelling:  Pakistan Zindabaad! (Long live the pure land, or victory to Pakistan).  It took us awhile to calm him down.  The superiority of Pakistan was confirmed by our being served tea on the lawn by the local head of the Rangers. 

I actually was fascinated with all the picture-taking before and after the ceremony.  So while people were taking photos of themselves and each other, I was taking photos of them taking photos. I fell in love with a little boy…