Thursday, April 08, 2010

The Bureau of Silly Walks is Alive and Well!

This is the evening ceremony for closing the Indian/Pakistani border. Travel On The Dollar calls the Wagah Border the ‘Berlin Wall’ of Asia.

Soldiers from both countries march in perfect drill, going through the steps of bringing down their respective national flags. But the striking feature of the occasion is not the smart drill, but the attempt to outdo each other in showing their anger and contempt against each other. Soldiers raise their boots to show the soles to others across the border, chests are puffed out and touch others’ when they come face to face, and feet are stamped so hard that the road must require weekly repairs! The soldiers adopted every conceivable gesture to show their hatred in a most unsoldier like manner. The crass shouts of joy from the crowds on both sides are even more disheartening. People are cheering the soldiers as if they were gladiators.

There's a YouTube video that's marvelous. The embedded player doesn't want to play nice, so just click on the link.

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