Ups and downs in Amritsar
Next stop was Amritsar to see the Golden Temple and the site of the famous massacre. The Golden Temple was okay I guess. I was a bit over temples by now even though this one is one of the more spectacular. More interesting was the Sikh museum attached which really enhanced my understanding of Sikh history and some elements of its culture. I've always found Sikhs to be friendly, helpful and quite well educated (and well dressed). I can't see anything in their religion that encourages these values more than other religions (though I don't claim to have looked that deeply into Sikhism) so I put it down to a cultural factor. Whatever it is, I have quite a positive feeling towards Sikhs.
The park where the Amritsar Massacre Occurred is now a tourist attraction in it's own right. As such it's had concrete plastered all over the place destroying its atmosphere and there was more work continuing which made the crowds there worse. So I don't recommend it.
The surprise packet at Amritsar was a visit to see the border closing ceremony at the Pakistan border. Dad and I had witnessed a similar ceremony at the Bangladeshi border in Tripura, but that was quite a small crossing and quite a small ceremony when compared with the border near Amritsar. There must have 500 people seated in three pavilions on the Indian side (mostly Indian tourists I think) and probably 200 on the Pakistani side (though I couldn't see over/through the gate so well. The atmosphere was like that of a sports event with both sides cheering on their team. Like in Tripura the two sets of army guards synchronised their rituals so that it all occurred simultaneously. They also had an amplification system used by both officers and civilians to hype up the crowd. To pass the time waiting for sunset some of the women were allowed down onto the thoroughfare to dance to the loud Bollywood music while men clapped along and cheered from their separate pavilion. Then the real show began. The soldiers marched around, the guy with microphone shouted nationalistic slogans for about 20 minutes, the crowd enthusiastically joining in the responses. The Sargent demonstrated how long he could a note/yell while his Pakistani counterpart did the same - though we couldn't hear enough from the other side to tell who could hold it longer. Then finally they ceremoniously lowered the flags.
Again it wasn't the main event that most fascinating to me but the way the crowd engaged in it. First there was the pushing in the queue to get in. The young lads were obviously expecting a good time and were in the mood. For the security check the crowd wandering toward the pavilion was required to form a single line. So first the crowd forms a tight huddle which gradually thins into a line, though not before the lads had their fun by pushing the whole group as much as possible - and getting slapped around the head by the guard for their efforts. My biggest fear at this point was pickpockets but had the pushing got much worse I would have considered withdrawing from the queue/huddle.
Then there were the crowd dynamics in the pavilion. I don't think I ever sat in the middle of such rampant nationalism, though I suspect the crowd is simply interested in whatever fervour it can find so is happy to take the nationalistic kind on offer. The social contract was then put to the serious test as at various points of peak action (or mostly peak hype) the front rows would stand up. This would create a wave as each row's view was blocked by those standing in front and would stand in turn. Then as the peak declined those at the back would begin calling for people to sit down and the wave would regress. However it usually got stuck towards the front as those soaking up the energy seemed to have no incentive to sit down, especially as this meant temporarily denying ones own view while waiting for the more stubborn people in front of you to sit down. Where they refused to sit down the wave would begin to revert slowly back up the stand and back and forth it would go. What made it more difficult is that one's view was blocked by the people standing 2-3 rows in front/below you. This meant even if the people immediately in front of you sat down you still couldn't see but neither could you really do anything to advance the sit-down wave as it was now out of reach. I'm not sure if this is making sense but the whole situation was essentially a case of individuals making and breaking a group consensus or social contract. If people at the front didn't sit down then everyone was forced to stand (or not see anything). To make sitting down worthwhile, required the agreement of everyone in front of you without exception. Anyway, not sure what I learnt exactly but it was fascinating to watch such a simple form of these sort of group dynamics in action. And one couldn't help getting caught up in the celebratory atmosphere - despite the nationalism involved.
The park where the Amritsar Massacre Occurred is now a tourist attraction in it's own right. As such it's had concrete plastered all over the place destroying its atmosphere and there was more work continuing which made the crowds there worse. So I don't recommend it.
The surprise packet at Amritsar was a visit to see the border closing ceremony at the Pakistan border. Dad and I had witnessed a similar ceremony at the Bangladeshi border in Tripura, but that was quite a small crossing and quite a small ceremony when compared with the border near Amritsar. There must have 500 people seated in three pavilions on the Indian side (mostly Indian tourists I think) and probably 200 on the Pakistani side (though I couldn't see over/through the gate so well. The atmosphere was like that of a sports event with both sides cheering on their team. Like in Tripura the two sets of army guards synchronised their rituals so that it all occurred simultaneously. They also had an amplification system used by both officers and civilians to hype up the crowd. To pass the time waiting for sunset some of the women were allowed down onto the thoroughfare to dance to the loud Bollywood music while men clapped along and cheered from their separate pavilion. Then the real show began. The soldiers marched around, the guy with microphone shouted nationalistic slogans for about 20 minutes, the crowd enthusiastically joining in the responses. The Sargent demonstrated how long he could a note/yell while his Pakistani counterpart did the same - though we couldn't hear enough from the other side to tell who could hold it longer. Then finally they ceremoniously lowered the flags.
Again it wasn't the main event that most fascinating to me but the way the crowd engaged in it. First there was the pushing in the queue to get in. The young lads were obviously expecting a good time and were in the mood. For the security check the crowd wandering toward the pavilion was required to form a single line. So first the crowd forms a tight huddle which gradually thins into a line, though not before the lads had their fun by pushing the whole group as much as possible - and getting slapped around the head by the guard for their efforts. My biggest fear at this point was pickpockets but had the pushing got much worse I would have considered withdrawing from the queue/huddle.
Then there were the crowd dynamics in the pavilion. I don't think I ever sat in the middle of such rampant nationalism, though I suspect the crowd is simply interested in whatever fervour it can find so is happy to take the nationalistic kind on offer. The social contract was then put to the serious test as at various points of peak action (or mostly peak hype) the front rows would stand up. This would create a wave as each row's view was blocked by those standing in front and would stand in turn. Then as the peak declined those at the back would begin calling for people to sit down and the wave would regress. However it usually got stuck towards the front as those soaking up the energy seemed to have no incentive to sit down, especially as this meant temporarily denying ones own view while waiting for the more stubborn people in front of you to sit down. Where they refused to sit down the wave would begin to revert slowly back up the stand and back and forth it would go. What made it more difficult is that one's view was blocked by the people standing 2-3 rows in front/below you. This meant even if the people immediately in front of you sat down you still couldn't see but neither could you really do anything to advance the sit-down wave as it was now out of reach. I'm not sure if this is making sense but the whole situation was essentially a case of individuals making and breaking a group consensus or social contract. If people at the front didn't sit down then everyone was forced to stand (or not see anything). To make sitting down worthwhile, required the agreement of everyone in front of you without exception. Anyway, not sure what I learnt exactly but it was fascinating to watch such a simple form of these sort of group dynamics in action. And one couldn't help getting caught up in the celebratory atmosphere - despite the nationalism involved.
posted by James Tonson | 9:45 pm
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