Hans Raj Hans sings for India-Pak peace at Wahgah-Atari border

Attari Border Ceremony

Just a few clicks west of Amritsar, via one helluva crowded public bus, sits Attari, a small village situated right at the India - Pakistan border!


No, it's not as dangerous as you're thinking; I've been to the DMZ between North and South Korea, and this is nothing like it. Actually, Attari is a functioning border during the day, hundreds of visa holders passing to either side. The expected India - Pakistan heat turns on only at border closing time, when both sides participate in a bombastic bout of choreographed goosestepping known as the Attar Border Ceremony.

It's a spectator sport, don't you know. Plopped in the concrete grandstands, I even had an India visor and mini-flag, plus a bag of popcorn! As the crowds assembled on the respective sides, Hindi/Urdu language pop hits blared with visible delight to the dancing (see: bouncing, sweaty) throngs. Would have joined in, but was land-locked by elderly French tourists in the bogus "VIP" foreign tourist seating. Intermittently, music gave way to a rousing voice at the microphone, prompting the crowd for an impassioned, rallying cry of "Hindu-stan! Hindu-stan!", a curious term in how it emphasizes the religious divide between the two nations.


It was all in good fun, though. The goosestepping routine, which seemed Monty Pyton-inspired, drew as many laughs as cheers. The prancing finished, representatives slowly lowered the two flags at the same intense rate, culminating in the Clang! of the shutting gate. Border closed, show over!

Amritsar: Attari Border Crossing

If you are travelling to Wagah Border for the Flag Down ceremony ,then first of all do check the timings with the hotel staffs.Since the timings tend to change,therefore it would be best on your part to go prepared.Would recommend that you should hire a rental car.It is around Rs 500 for the day.Since the border is quite far from Amritsar Golden temple area so it will take about 40 mins to an hour to reach that place from Golden Temple Area.As you reach there you will see a huge serpentine line to the gate.As and when the gate is opened all the people rushes to the security check area.So you better run to get to the front of the line.There would be two lines for checking.One for men and another for women.After the metal detector checking there would be a manual frisking. Food and beverages are not allowed.Try and get a seat as front as possible.Since there would a large number of people so being in the last row wont help you ! There would be flag down ceremony on the both sides and you can really witness the competition among both the sides to outperform each other.The soldiers picked for the job are quite tall,seems like the tallest ones were chosen for the job on both the sides !! The march past and the ceremony is quite unique and you wont witness the normal marching by the guards.It is quite a ceremony to watch with the crowd cheering on top of their voice.One can imagine the atmosphere when around 4 to 5 thousand people are cheering and rooting for the soldiers and the nation.A unique flag down ceremony to witness.The ceremony lasts for about 45 mins.There would be music and you would see that people are dancing to the music after the ceremony is over.

Atari Border

ATTARI: A group of Pakistani nationals arrived in India via Attari border on Wednesday to attend the 8th joint convention of Pakistan-India People's Forum for peace and democracy, scheduled to be held in Allahabad from December 29 to 31.

The peaceniks were of the opinion that efforts made to reduce differences at common man's level to forge cordial ties have helped change the mindset of people in both the countries.

Talking to TOI, chairman of Pakistan chapter of the forum, A Rehman, said they would discuss with their Indian counterparts about ways and means to further the ties between the two nations.

"We have to coexist in a peaceful environment and not under the threat of militancy and arms race," said Rehman, adding that it was due to the pressure built up by the common man that both governments were holding composite dialogue for confidence building.

He said that in the past eight years, he had seen a sea of change in relations between India and Pakistan. "People of both countries have now got ample chances to meet each other and exchange views, which was not the case earlier," he said.

A delegate, Dr Ravish Nadeem, a resident of Rawalpindi, who had arrived in India for the first time, said that about two decades ago, India was an enemy country for common Pakistani, but now the mindset has changed.

"There are only a few people left who still have the same dogmatic thinking while majority of people in Pakistan wants friendlier relations with India," said Nadeem.

President of Folklore Research Academy, Ramesh Yadav, said that efforts like holding conventions were confidence building measures at civilian level. He expressed hope that with the efforts of peaceniks, travel and trade would soon become a common phenomena between the two nations.