A Royal Beating

After being a "VIP" at the Wagah border on Saturday night, it was quite nice to find my Monday evening VIP invitation from the Minister of Defense (along with a couple thousand other VIP's) for the Beating Retreat celebration.

Everyone seemed to think that attending a retreat was a special event, but no one had actually attended one. So I didn't really know what to expect. What ended up happening was a really cool marching band display where the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force displayed their finest. It was as if UCLA, USC and Cal marching bands came together and tried to one up each other. I loved it!

And to add to the whole experience, there was a row of 22 camels that kept watch over the event. And just when we thought the whole event was over...at that right moment of dusk....the entire place lit up like Tivoli Gardens. Totally worth it.