An evening of friendly fires at Wagah-Attari border!

The Indian side of the border.
A spanking new complex in the pipeline.

It is a daily affair, of public display of brotherly rivalry. The old wound of a state that was curved at will at a stroke of a pen.

As the sun sets, both nations remind themselves they are of one DNA but two divided by politics and religion.

It has become a ritual to irritate and provoke either side with their high flying kicking drills, the heaving of chests at each other and theatrical display of mocked emotions.

Even though similar ceremonies are carried at two other border towns, the one at the trunk road between two sister cities, Amritsar and Lahore take the cake. They share a strong bond. Maharajah Ranjit Singh who united the states in Land of Five Rivers (Punjab) and held the honour of being the only force in the history of mankind to tame the hill tribes of Afghanistan, made Lahore his capital and honoured his guardian religion by building a golden outlook to the Hari Mandhir to see it as the Golden Temple today.

Maharajah Ranjit Singh

The heat builds up under the evening sun on both sides of the fence. The heat on the Indian side, however, is more pronounced as youngsters and even visitors to Bharat Desh frolic in the revelry of forced nationalism and perceived animosity of kins. The blaring sounds of Bollywood music scream for the call of patriotism. On the Pakistani side, the tone is sombre as the nation built on the foundations of moderations of religion struggle to prove their purpose of existence. The Pakistanis commence the ceremony with doa. The scene is set for something akin to a shouting match; with multihued psychedelic, colour donning members of the Indian side of spectators who had thronged from near and far, amongst which many are foreigners anyway versus the green-white monotonous shade on the contralateral side.

Having an enemy serves a purpose.

Indians provoke their bhais with two figures that they do not like to be at the forefront of things. Two majestic looking female Indian Border Security Force (BSF) officers with full regalia march to the other end followed by another two with patrolling dogs. The Pakistani Rangers reply with male marchers. 

The fiesta-like atmosphere goes on with prodding on either side with cries of freedom - Bharat Mata Jai, Hindustan Zindabad and Vande Mataram until it ends with the ceremonial opening of border gates, lowering of flags and re-closure of gates. Understandably the yelling on the Pakistani side is muffled.

Moments before the lowering of flags.

For all you know, the two sides of the team (BSF and Pakistani Rangers) probably discuss their next day’s itinerary over masala chai as both their moves are well coordinated to the tilt.


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