Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda is thrilled as he finally got to fulfill his parents’ wish to witness the Beating Retreat ceremony at Wagah border, Punjab.
In the Extraction in 2020 he shares that the short trip was more of an emotional affair.
“It was my parents’ wish to attend the beating retreat parade at the border. Watching our glorious history had my mom in tears and my dad and me speechless, and in awe with pride. So much blood, sweat, and personal sacrifice go into keeping our borders safe”. He said.
“To avoid chaos and the feeling of being fish in a fishbowl, I sought some help. It was not the so-called celebrity call but a message placed in the school batch group that resulted in this fine experience,” Randeep Hooda says.
The actor Randeep Hooda says that he reached out to a classmate, who is in Border Security Force (BSF), who made it happen for them. “He called his course mate posted in the city to make sure that my parents get the whole ‘apne uncle aunty hain’ experience,” he shares.
During the outing, Randeep Hooda also explored Amritsar along with his family and spent time with BSF personnel, and enjoyed a meal in the BSF mess. It was also his first visit to the border in Amritsar. he said, “It was more like watching an India Pakistan match where instead of players, there were very smartly-dressed soldiers”.
“I was privy to some of their preparations of dressing up to the T and stretching their legs. It reminded me of my Prithvi days in a way, he added, who earlier visited the Ferozpur border while on a break from shooting Highway in 2014.
“One gets goosebumps when it starts and the first soldier marches with his soles seeing the sky in every stride… A hair-raising feeling goes through you as more soldiers with different flamboyant moves charge each other from both sides to come face to face culminating into the flags lowering of both countries”, says the actor.
“The discipline, the sense of duty, and the pride in the uniform and the country it serves is something we as citizens should always be grateful for,” he said.