Wagah, or I should say Atari border (as this side of the border is called Atari.) is one of the must visit places, atleast once in your life time. I always wanted to see it. The feeling of looking at the last last gate of the country before the neighbouring country starts can't be described in the words.
Wagah is not a place it's a phenomenon. The first lesson in patriotism. How our soldiers work, how it feels like to sit just a few metres away from Pakistan. We are not normal neighbours, never have been.
The retreat by the BSF personals leaves you mesmerised. The chants of vande matram, bharat mata ki jai and Hindustan zindabad sets your adrenaline to rush like mad. I haven't heard such honest chants in a very very long time. It felt like the most patriotic arena after or almost equivalent to the india - Pakistan match😀.
The 20 minute retreat is beautiful. Your heart goes out to the soldiers. Meanwhile you are curious to see how the other side looks like. You mentally check " are they any better than us?." " how many people are there in terms of number, in each side sitting in the arena?" Suddenly you become an Indian. The patriotic songs being played now make much more sense in your heart. You can see people from all age groups so excited. The energy, the enthusiasm.
I don't know about the others but I felt like hugging the soldiers. It is here when you see them you realise how hard they work, especially on these sensitive and high risk areas like borders. I just couldn't push back pathankot incident away.
On the way to the border I saw a board where lahore was marked 23 kms away.So feel so strange thinking about how close you are to Pakistan. Now we live around the neighbourhood which we love to hate and hate to love. We have a certain bias and emotions that we do not have with China, Nepal or Bangladesh, our other neighbours, but as we hear Pakistan the antennas are up. I saw some trucks at the border and was informed they were Pakistani trucks (we have a trade gate at wagah). I was curious to know and see them, how do they look like, what do we get from Pakistan? I can't say what you feel there good, bad, ugly or beautiful about Pakistan. There are no such emotions. For me when I sat there I was an Indian and I transformed into an Indian. Just thinking India is my country and that's Pakistan. I mean it's difficult to describe what you feel.
That border certainly has a much more impact on you than anything else you have ever heard or seen about Pakistan and India relationship. The trucks crossing the border. The black cat commandos, aggression of the soldiers performing the retreat, the crowd chanting slogans. You are in a different world and it's certainly not the normal one. I wanted to stop and talk to a few soldiers, but better luck next time.
Wagah/ Atari whatever you want to call it, but do visit. It is worth all your while.
Wagah is not a place it's a phenomenon. The first lesson in patriotism. How our soldiers work, how it feels like to sit just a few metres away from Pakistan. We are not normal neighbours, never have been.
The retreat by the BSF personals leaves you mesmerised. The chants of vande matram, bharat mata ki jai and Hindustan zindabad sets your adrenaline to rush like mad. I haven't heard such honest chants in a very very long time. It felt like the most patriotic arena after or almost equivalent to the india - Pakistan match😀.
The 20 minute retreat is beautiful. Your heart goes out to the soldiers. Meanwhile you are curious to see how the other side looks like. You mentally check " are they any better than us?." " how many people are there in terms of number, in each side sitting in the arena?" Suddenly you become an Indian. The patriotic songs being played now make much more sense in your heart. You can see people from all age groups so excited. The energy, the enthusiasm.
I don't know about the others but I felt like hugging the soldiers. It is here when you see them you realise how hard they work, especially on these sensitive and high risk areas like borders. I just couldn't push back pathankot incident away.
On the way to the border I saw a board where lahore was marked 23 kms away.So feel so strange thinking about how close you are to Pakistan. Now we live around the neighbourhood which we love to hate and hate to love. We have a certain bias and emotions that we do not have with China, Nepal or Bangladesh, our other neighbours, but as we hear Pakistan the antennas are up. I saw some trucks at the border and was informed they were Pakistani trucks (we have a trade gate at wagah). I was curious to know and see them, how do they look like, what do we get from Pakistan? I can't say what you feel there good, bad, ugly or beautiful about Pakistan. There are no such emotions. For me when I sat there I was an Indian and I transformed into an Indian. Just thinking India is my country and that's Pakistan. I mean it's difficult to describe what you feel.
That border certainly has a much more impact on you than anything else you have ever heard or seen about Pakistan and India relationship. The trucks crossing the border. The black cat commandos, aggression of the soldiers performing the retreat, the crowd chanting slogans. You are in a different world and it's certainly not the normal one. I wanted to stop and talk to a few soldiers, but better luck next time.
Wagah/ Atari whatever you want to call it, but do visit. It is worth all your while.
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