Republic Day celebrations end on a high note

Soulful tunes and foot-tapping drumbeats rent the air today as curtains came down on the Republic Day celebrations with the Beating the Retreat ceremony, where bands from Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces performed for the first time.

The tri-services military band, Indian classical instruments Sinfonietta and Jazz Symphonic Orchestra added flavour to the ceremony which wound up with the poignant tunes of "Abide With Me".

This year, 15 military bands, 18 pipes and drums bands from regimental centres and battalions participated in the ceremony. Besides, one band each of Indian Navy and Indian Air Force was also part of the event.

The boisterous drumming by the Naval band coupled with unique moves and a cheerful flourish, evoked spontaneous cheers from the audience including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was seen tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair.

President Pranab Mukherjee, the chief guest at the function and the Supreme Commander of the armed forces, arrived in the historic six horses-driven carriage which was used by the Viceroy during the British rule.

His arrival was sounded by trumpeters, buglers and echo buglers followed by the national anthem. The band members, in their red, olive green, orange and navy blue uniforms, played as the tunes blended into each other for an hour before the flag was lowered amid retreat by buglers. 

As North Block, South Block, Parliament House and Rashtrapati Bhavan lit up in unison, the resplendent sight was greeted by a collective gasp from the audience.

Vice President Hamid Ansari accompanied by his wife Salma, Prime Minister Modi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union Ministers Manohar Parrikar and Rajnath Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and several other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

As many as 20 out of 26 performances were composed by Indian musicians.

Indian classical instruments Sinfonietta and Jazz Symphonic Orchestra playing the tune "Agyat Youvana" and Indian classical instruments Sinfonietta playing the tunes of "Bharat humko jaan se pyara hai", "maa tujhe salaam" and "aey mere watan ke logon" mesmerised the audience.

Other tunes that sent the spectators into a time-wrap were "Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja", "Senani", "Lounden's Bonnie Woods and Braes", "the High Road to Linton", "Air Born", "Sam Bahadur", "Taqat Watan Ki Humse Hai", "Abide With Me" and lastly the ever-popular "Sare Jahan Se Acha".

The ceremony at the Vijay Chowk on January 29th every year marks the culmination of the four-day-long Republic Day celebrations.

Beating the Retreat has emerged as an event of national pride when the colours and standards are paraded. The ceremony traces its origins to the early 1950s when Major Roberts of the Indian Army indigenously developed the unique ceremony of display by the massed bands.

It marks a centuries-old military tradition when the troops ceased fighting, sheathed their arms and withdrew from the battlefield and returned to the camps at sunset at the sounding of the Retreat.