I witnessed a very weird event last night... The official closing of the India/Pakistan border. Each night just before sunset the soldiers of both India and Pakistan ceremoniously parade around for awhile and then officially shut down all cross-border traffic. Cutting off inter-country transit is not unique, but what is unique about this particular event is the amount of pageantry and ceremony complete with fancy uniforms, coordinated marches, and huge numbers of spectators who come to witness their countries cocky display of military might. The event draws so many spectators, on both sides of the border, that large grandstands have been constructed to give visitors a view of the narrow road and iron gates where most of the action takes place. Check out the video below. 
As you can see from the video there is a lot of yelling, staring, shouting, crowd cheering, foot stomping, and a lot of macho marching- all part of a decades old tradition and puffed up display of nationalist bravado. It was interesting to see and I thought the whole event to be rather comical. The whole ordeal takes about 45 minutes to complete and it ends with both countries slowly lowering their flags in unison (so that neither country's flag is higher or stays longer). I think it is really funny that this huge event takes place each night and always in front of a packed crowd of avid supporters.
You can barely see quick shots of Pakistan (which would be at the far left end of the road where the men kept marching towards), but they had eerily similar uniforms, shouts, marches, and stomps. The crowd was smaller on the Pakistan side (surely a sign of pride for the Indians) and their cheers were quieter. Also on the Pakistan side the men were on one side of the stands and the women were on the other and there was no mixing. As far as I know, this is the only border crossing where this type of ceremony takes place.
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