Soul-stirring Beating Retreat ends Republic Day celebrations

NEW DELHI - The backdrop was magnificent, the music soul-stirring, the bandsmen impeccably turned out and the balmy weather just perfect after days of bone-chilling cold as the Beating Retreat ceremony Friday brought the curtain down on India’s 61st Republic Day celebrations.

As ceremonies go, the Beating Retreat spectacle arguably has few parallels. This is largely due to the venue where it is staged - the imposing Vijay Chowk square at the foot of the Raisina Hill on which the British-built Rashtrapati Bhawan stands.

Down this hill marched some 1,000 bandsmen from the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force to enthrall a huge audience with an eclectic mix of quick and slow marches, interspersed with fanfares, strathspeys, bugle calls, drum rolls and even a cradle song during the hour-long perfect blend of melody and military precision.

President Pratibha Patil, the supreme commander of the armed forces, was the chief guest, arriving in state and taking the salute as the national anthem was played and the tricolour unfurled.

The highlight, as in previous years, was at the very end as the bandsmen marched into the twilight and many thousands of electric bulbs strung on the Rashtrapati Bhawan, the North and South Blocks, the nearby parliament and India Gate monument came alight.

The unfurling of the tricolour was the signal for the massed bands to march down Raisina Hill essaying the peppy Sam Bahadur. It is composed in honour of the late Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, who is credited for India’s victory in the 1971 war with Pakistan that led to the birth of Bangladesh.

After the massed bands had completed their routine, it was the turn of the army’s pipes and drums to step forward, their orange, red, green and maroon tunics providing a fascinating contrast as they played a variety of Indian and Western marches.

Beginning with Surya, they ran through a repertoire that included Sky Boat Song and Piper’s Cave to name just a few. They simultaneously wove intricate patterns on Vijay Chowk, forming squares, crosses and circles as they swayed to the music.

It was then the turn of the brass bands of the navy and the air force to take centrestage, performing rousing marches like Ocean’s Splendour Bharatiya Nao Sena and Sky Hawks, while constantly on the move, peeling off in half circles and coming together again.

Their highpoints were Swatantra Bharat ki Shaan, an inspiring slow march with just a hint of the Western genre, and the languid Nocturnal Cry that had sublime shades of Siki Amo Le, a Ladhaki cradle song. Buglers atop the North Block tower took up the refrain and subtly etched it out.

The army brass band came on next with a selection that included Hanste Lushai that evoked memories of the hills of the northeast. “Hanste Lushai” has almost become a perennial at the Retreat.

Their Dhola re Dhola was an instant hit, moving between a slow and a quick march and bringing to mind horses galloping in the wild.

Then came the massed bands for one last time. They literally brought the house down with On the Snare Drums as they displayed their mastery with the drumsticks, twirling them in the air and bringing them together and on the drums.

By now, the light was slowly fading. But there was more to follow with the gently rising and falling Abide With Me, Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite hymn, and Sare Jahan Se Achcha, the eternal favourite that for years has concluded the retreat.

It was as the last notes of this faded away and the bandsmen crested Raisina Hill that the electric bulbs came on, bathing the arena with light and proving beyond compare that even when it comes to music, the Indian armed forces can truly match the best that the world has to offer.