Baisakhi celebrations with a difference

It was Baisakhi on April 13, 2007. This was the most important day for our battalion, 15 Punjab, as we were raised in 1705, 302 years ago at Patiala by Baba Alla Singh, of whom former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh is the direct descendant.

However, we were in a dilemma as we were deployed operationally on foreign shores in Lebanon, devoid of the administrative support normally available back home. Notwithstanding that, the day had to be celebrated, primarily in honour of all our martyrs who had made the supreme sacrifice to raise the stature of the battalion to its current form.

Ours is the oldest and the most decorated battalion of the Indian Army which won a record 18 Vir Chakras in a single operation in the historic Battle of Zoji La in 1948. I, as the commanding officer, decided, come what may, we will not only celebrate the occasion but also exploit the event to spread our Punjabi culture, far and wide. The next challenge was to draw the Lebanese crowds. But, for that to happen, a spectacular event had to be organised, wherein, the who’s who of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the civilian Lebanese populace would get attracted. I struck upon an idea to organise a medal day parade on Baisakhi.

The Lebanese had not heard about Baisakhi but, yes, they were aware of the charms of the medal day parade. It was a big-ticket event, where, even the employed Lebanese used to take special leave, merely to attend it. During the medal day parade, all soldiers deployed as part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, who finish 180 days of physical foreign service, are pinned up with medals on their chests, personally by the force commander. Something to learn from them. Major General Claudio Graziano, along with a large entourage of his staff officers, was to do the honours. He later rose to the coveted position of chief of defence staff in the Italian army.

The news spread like wildfire in the local town of Eb-el-saqi and all around. Finally, the civilians turned out in large numbers so much so that the seating capacity had to be increased at the last minute for which we had smartly catered. After the medal day parade, we had planned the grand finale, which comprised Bhangra and Gatka performances. When our Sikh troops broke into energetic Bhangra moves, it put all the Lebanese in a unique state of happiness. All of them got their rush of euphoria with this celebratory harvest dance. Several Lebanese youngsters broke into a dance in their seats itself.

Many of them exhorted the force commander to join our soldiers on the beat of a solid dhol. The Lebanese discovered that the Bhangra music was so happy and upbeat! The Bhangra dance was followed by Gatka, the Sikh martial art form. That again impressed Lebanese girls, who clicked selfies with our soldier performers. At the end of the day, I was deeply satisfied that the Lebanese now know about Bhangra, Gatka and sadda (our) Punjab.

WHEN OUR TROOPS BROKE INTO ENERGETIC BHANGRA MOVES, IT PUT THE LEBANESE IN A UNIQUE STATE OF HAPPINESS. ALL OF THEM GOT THEIR RUSH OF EUPHORIA WITH THE CELEBRATORY HARVEST DANCE