23rd March Parade

As Light Within‘s latest entry states, tomorrow is Pakistan Day, a day celebrated to mark the occasion when the Pakistan Resolution was passed in Lahore in 1940. The main event of the day is a parade in front of the Presidency by all the armed forces, attended by the President, Prime Minister, other officials and a sizeable public. It also consists of many other units representing the country’s arts and crafts, cultures of different provinces and various parts of Pakistani society.

I remember how when I was much younger, soldiers would start arriving over a month before the event for rehearsals with tanks and heavy vehicles coming in a bit later. Air Force jets would start practicing days before and we would regularly go to watch all this and the full-dress rehearsal a day or 2 before the final event. Living and going to school close to the parade area made us feel really lucky.

Though it seems to have lost the zeal and excitement of past years, maybe due to more pressing issues for everyone and partly due to us having grown up and lost interest, it still is an event not to be missed if you haven’t seen it yet.