Indian Movie Kick

[Beverly Denmark]

Join Dr. Donald Warne (Co-Director, Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health), Dr. Michael Toedt (former IHS Chief Medical Officer) and members of the AIMES Alliance in kicking off the first organization solely dedicated to working with Congress and the Administration to expand physician graduate medical education (GME) federal policies and opportunities in Indian Health Service, Tribal-administered, and urban Indian facilities.

BACKGROUND: The American Indian Medical Education Strategies (AIMES) Alliance is a diverse, collaborative organization dedicated to ensuring that American Indians and Alaska Natives have fully staffed medical facilities. The Alliance envisions an environment where urban and rural Tribal members benefit from improved health and reduced health disparities by having access to fully staffed medical facilities filled with physicians who provide high-quality and culturally appropriate care and invest in the communities where they serve. The Alliance also envisions a medical education and training environment where allopathic and osteopathic physicians have extensive opportunities to benefit communities and further their education and training in urban and rural Indian Health Service, Tribal-administered, and other indigenous clinics and facilities.

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska - Soldiers from U.S. Army Alaska and the Indian army joined forces here Nov. 8 to kick off the field training exercise portion of Yudh Abhyas 2010 at Forward Operating Base Sparta.

"We trained on anything that we thought we might come across during the mission. That way we are all in sync and can react to anything and make sure that everyone is on the same page," said Staff Sgt. Juan Rangel, senior scout for Bravo Troop, 1st Squadron (Airborne), 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division.

The instruction included training on movement techniques, principles of a zone reconnaissance, clearing techniques, react-to-contact, hand-and-arm signals, and other aspects of troop leading procedures.

"The Indian army is already well trained and has a good understanding of what we are doing because their procedures are similar. This provided them a little more knowledge on how we operate," said Spc. Thomas Holcomb, a scout with Bravo Troop, 1-40th CAV.

"It's a learning process. We teach them how we do things, and we also listen to how they do things," Rangel said. "They give us their feedback, and if it works we can incorporate it into what we are doing. I know we will get something out of learning how they conduct operations, something that we can add to how we carry out our missions."

"I think it's very important to have combined events like this," Holcomb said. "Just working with the Indian army itself is a great experience. To actually interact with someone from a different culture is something that you can't simulate."

Yudh Abhyas is a regularly-scheduled bilateral, conventional-forces training exercise, sponsored by U.S. Army, Pacific and the Indian Army. The exercise is designed to promote cooperation between the two militaries to develop U.S. Army Pacific and USARAK relationships with India and promote interoperability through combined military decision making process, battle tracking and maneuvering forces, and exchange of tactics, techniques and procedures.

U.S. Soldiers and their Indian counterparts are conducting a command post exercise, airborne operations training, marksmanship and tactical training to improve partnership readiness and cooperation between the armies of India and the United States during Yudh Abhyas 2010.

I love the thrill and excitement of crossing overland borders, especially in unusual places. In that sense, perhaps THE most interesting and notorious one of all is the India Pakistan border. Every single day when the border closes, soldiers from the two nuclear super powers come face to face with each other and engage in a bizarre and hostile standoff. And the best thing: we are all invited to come and watch!

This situation is found at the so-called Wagah border and has existed ever since 1959. It follows a dramatic and violent partitioning of British India in 1947 that led to the creation of the two nations as we know it today. The hostility that remains, can clearly be seen during a carefully choreographed ritual of military bombast. It lasts for a small hour and ultimately leads to a delicate ceremony of lowering the two national flags.

Every day thousands of patriots (and then some tourists) travel from far and beyond to the border located between Amritsar and Lahore. The main attraction is watching the soldiers as they battle it out to see who can show the most aggressive pose of all. Yes, as weird as it sounds, but they raised this to an art form on its own. And oh, it also involves a one-legged man.

My first experience at the India-Pakistan border is on the Indian side. After being very sick for days, I finally feel the strength to join a group of backpackers from my hostel in Amritsar. We are informed to leave early and not to bring any bags. I take some camera gear in my hands, my passport and jump in an auto rickshaw to race off towards Pakistan. It is a moment I had been looking forward to for many years, so you can imagine the excitement.

During the one-hour drive we pass several military academies and lots of dug-out bunkers. On roundabouts we see two Pakistani tanks positioned as war trophies, a stark reminder of the three wars the two countries have already fought over the last 70 years.

After easily clearing several passport checks, once inside the arena I am immediately struck by the sheer scale of the place. I had researched quite a lot of Youtube videos, but never did I come across anything that looked like this. In fact, India just finished building a gigantic arena towering out way above the Pakistani version.

About half an hour in the music abruptly stops when two poker-faced soldiers emerge, clearing the street while marching towards Pakistan. Carrying automatic machine guns, Ray-Bans and consumer-type headsets, they position themselves right next the border fence.

Then the moment everyone had been waiting for. An 8-man squad of well-dressed soldiers appears in the center of the road. Their khaki uniforms complemented by prestigious yet funny looking hats, they are the stars of the ceremony.

Each soldier gets a turn to break out of the group and aggressively speed towards the gate. On the way each one kicks up his right leg well above the head, and viciously hits the ground with the metal heel. The group gets back together and engages with its Pakistani counterparts in a professional death stare competition while fist-pumping both arms way up in the air. The crowd explodes, people are absolutely loving it. For as far as I can see, on the Pakistan side the exact same thing is happening.

Now here is the fun part. Unlike most others, I was able to watch the whole ceremony again from the Pakistani side. Obviously not on the same day, but roughly a week later after having travelled around in Pakistan.

If there is one difference, it would be that the Pakistanis are there in smaller numbers (and especially the tourists). Though the energy level is just as high, and the screams just as loud, it does make for a more organised spectacle. The crowds stay on the tribunes, and with the help of my Pakistani host I am the only person granted permission to walk around a bit to find the best angles for my photos.

India and Pakistan not only share a border, but also a tragic history of conflict. It dates back to 1947, when British rule over the Indian subcontinent came to an end. What followed was a violent partitioning along religious lines, splitting up British India into what is now known as Pakistan, India and Bangladesh (at the time considered East Pakistan). Since then three wars have been fought and it is estimated that during this time over a million people lost their lives.

Today India and Pakistan remain entangled in conflict. The hottest point is the disputed Kashmir region, located approximately 100 kilometers north of the Wagah border. With both countries being nuclear super powers, there is a fine line between peace and mutual destruction.

Perhaps the main star of the Pakistani ceremony is a one-legged cheerleader. I noticed him already while on the Indian side, but once in Pakistan I can get a much clearer view of him. I see him literally jumping around the area, addressing the crowd as the ceremony is taking place. In one hand at all times the Pakistani flag, in the other occasionally a crutch.

The border closing ceremony concludes with the lowering of the national flags. A well-respected moment, comically accompanied by a dissonant harmony of horn sounds. As soon as the flags are taken down there is a remarkable and quick handshake across the line that is easy to miss. A more dramatic act of slamming the gates shut, signals the soldiers to parade back to their border post.

The fact that India and Pakistan can engage in a perfectly mirrored choreography proves to me that people on both sides of the line are in the end not that different at all. Ignoring the politics, Kashmir conflict and different religions for a brief moment, it opens a window of hope that things can get better.

Have you ever been to the ceremony? What are your thoughts about it all? And if you would like to go, did this article help you to get a clearer picture? Leave your comments below and share if you care!

Dr. Shaina Mehra is a psychiatrist living in Warsaw, Poland. Her father Brijesh brings a marriage proposal and asks her to meet police officer Himanshu Tyagi, who is the son of a friend of Brijesh. The two meet in a train, where Shaina reveals she had an ex-boyfriend Devi Lal Singh, and talks about her crazy experiences with him. Devi is shown to be intelligent and adventurous, always looking for a kick in his life. Shaina was helping her friend, Vidhi elope with Devi's friend, Jignesh, when she met Devi in Delhi. After a long, hilarious chase, Devi got Vidhi and Jignesh married in a temple, but also helped Vidhi's mother reach the temple for a "kick". Shaina met Devi's family; the two began dating and fall in love. On her suggestion and getting ashamed from her father, Devi got a job in a chemical lab but resigned soon, suffering from the lack of a "kick". Devi tried hiding from Shaina that he is jobless again but she soon discovered it. Shaina scolded him for not being able to earn money, and Devi broke up with her and said that his new "kick" is now to earn money. She has since shifted to Warsaw, having to entertain Brijesh and his desire to see her married.

c80f0f1006