It will be all Indian tunes at Beating Retreat

New Delhi: As the 75th Republic Day culminates on Monday with the Beating Retreat ceremony, the historic Vijay Chowk will reverberate with all the Indian tunes that will be played by the music bands of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).

They will play 31 captivating and foot-tapping Indian tunes before a distinguished audience, comprising President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Ministers, senior officials, and the general public, an official statement said.

The ceremony will begin with the massed band’s ‘Shankhnaad’ tune, which will be followed by enthralling tunes such as ‘Veer Bharat’, ‘Sangam Dur’, ‘Deshon ka Sartaj Bharat’, ‘Bhagirathi’, and ‘Arjuna’ by the Pipes and Drums band. The CAPF bands will play ‘Bharat Ke Jawan’ and ‘Vijay Bharat’ among others.

‘Tiger Hill’, ‘Rejoice in Raisina', and ‘Swadeshi’ are among the tunes to be played by the band of the Indian Air Force, while the audience will witness the Indian Navy band playing several tunes, including ‘INS Vikrant’, ‘Mission Chandrayaan’, ‘Jai Bharati', and ‘Hum Tayyar Hain’.

This will be followed by the Indian Army band, which will play ‘Faulad Ka Jigar’, ‘Agniveer’, ‘Kargil 1999', and ‘Taqat Watan', among others.

The massed bands will, then, play ‘Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja’, ‘Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon', and ‘Drummers Call’. The event will come to a close with the ever-popular tune of ‘Sare Jahan se Acha’.

The principal conductor of the ceremony will be Lt. Col. Vimal Joshi. While the Army Band conductor will be Subedar Major Moti Lal, MCPO MUS II M Antony and Warrant Officer Ashok Kumar will be the conductors of the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, respectively. The conductor of the CAPF band will be Constable GD Ranidevi.

The Buglers will perform under the leadership of Naib Subedar Umesh Kumar, and the Pipes and Drums band will play under the instructions of Subedar Major Rajender Singh.

‘Beating Retreat’ 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, withdrew from the battlefield, and returned to the camps at sunset at the sound of the retreat.

Colours and standards are cased, and flags are lowered. The ceremony creates nostalgia for the times gone by.