I Love a Parade
So, despite my rant (see post below) about the inadequacies of my guide, I did enjoy the Republic Day parade, and I'm glad I went. As usual with such things, watching the crowd -- especially beforehand -- was even more fun than the parade itself.
All of the early entries in the parade were military-style formations, interspersed with marching bands. Indians in kilts, playing bagpipes? I love the Commonwealth. After the more professional military-looking types came numerous school groups, also trying to march and swing their arms in step. There were some interesting synchronization difficulties, to say the least. Sorry: no video.
After the marching groups came costumed performers representing (I think) different regions of the state; these were the ones that did the dancing. There was also a fascinating dance routine performed by soldiers -- or men dressed up to look like soldiers -- complete with cheerleader-style pyramids and full-body drop-and-rolls while carrying rifles. Most impressive. Then there were the floats. Gloriously tacky.
Also, don't miss the irony of this beauty, as it glides in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on his march to the sea:
And then there was the departure. There was an interesting moment when the crowd in front of me was trying to climb through a bamboo barrier, and the crowd behind me was pushing, and I thought,"huh: this is how people get crushed to death." Then I wiped the thought from my mind, rammed my elbow -- hard -- into the man behind me who was seizing the opportunity to seize my ass, and ducked through the gate ahead of my guide.
After the parade, and after I'd eaten lunch and checked out of my room, I decided to do something peaceful and go to the zoo. Omigod, what a mistake. Turns out the zoo is what EVERYONE in Lucknow does after the RD parade. I paid my 10 rupees and went in, walked around for about 10 minutes without seeing any animals (but a very interestingly graphic diorama of a cheetah devouring a buck, next to a statue of a dodo -- not quite sure what the message was, there), and got the hell out of Dodge. I was attracting so much attention I felt like I was the one on dispay behind bars. And of course I was in a non-touristy section of town, so there were no rickshaws, and I had to retrace the steps my driver had taken to get out of the odd little neighborhood I was in. A bit uncomfortable. But I live to report it all.
And so to train. Tomorrow, Benares.
All of the early entries in the parade were military-style formations, interspersed with marching bands. Indians in kilts, playing bagpipes? I love the Commonwealth. After the more professional military-looking types came numerous school groups, also trying to march and swing their arms in step. There were some interesting synchronization difficulties, to say the least. Sorry: no video.
After the marching groups came costumed performers representing (I think) different regions of the state; these were the ones that did the dancing. There was also a fascinating dance routine performed by soldiers -- or men dressed up to look like soldiers -- complete with cheerleader-style pyramids and full-body drop-and-rolls while carrying rifles. Most impressive. Then there were the floats. Gloriously tacky.
Also, don't miss the irony of this beauty, as it glides in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on his march to the sea:
And then there was the departure. There was an interesting moment when the crowd in front of me was trying to climb through a bamboo barrier, and the crowd behind me was pushing, and I thought,"huh: this is how people get crushed to death." Then I wiped the thought from my mind, rammed my elbow -- hard -- into the man behind me who was seizing the opportunity to seize my ass, and ducked through the gate ahead of my guide.
After the parade, and after I'd eaten lunch and checked out of my room, I decided to do something peaceful and go to the zoo. Omigod, what a mistake. Turns out the zoo is what EVERYONE in Lucknow does after the RD parade. I paid my 10 rupees and went in, walked around for about 10 minutes without seeing any animals (but a very interestingly graphic diorama of a cheetah devouring a buck, next to a statue of a dodo -- not quite sure what the message was, there), and got the hell out of Dodge. I was attracting so much attention I felt like I was the one on dispay behind bars. And of course I was in a non-touristy section of town, so there were no rickshaws, and I had to retrace the steps my driver had taken to get out of the odd little neighborhood I was in. A bit uncomfortable. But I live to report it all.
And so to train. Tomorrow, Benares.
posted by Ruth | 5:40 AM
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