Military tattoo festival

Every year Edinburgh comes alive during August for the Edinburgh festival. This festival is a culmination of a number of festivals – the book festival, the food festival, the comedy festival, the art festival, the jazz and blues festival, the science festival, so on so forth. For each of the festivals there are performers/participants who come from world over and it is a sight to behold.

One such festival in all of this is the Military Tattoo festival, it is held at the Edinburgh castle grounds. Everyone I met here has raved of this festival and it is supposed to be a big deal. So I went to see the military tattoo show on 5th Aug and it was a preview show which meant we got the tickets at half price.

The show started at 9:30 and we were seated at the stands in seats close to the castle which was a good place to be since the performers all came out from the castle to begin with. It was a bit like being in our republic day performance except that it was in the night, the audience far too small and the lighting was amazing.

There were bands from different parts and each of the bands came in played their music and did a routine involving dancing or acrobatics. It was sheer poetry in motion. This year was the diamond jubilee celebrations so it was special. There was band participation from Jordan, Scotland, Wales, England, Gurkha regiment, etc.

There was a bit of fun when a small piece was done by children ranging from 5 yr olds to 16 yr olds all on bikes and they did some amazing stunts on their little bikes. The best being a two five yr olds on a Sholay style scooter (with an additional compartment for a 3rd passenger), the child at the handle bars manoeuvred the bike to ride it on 2 wheels rather than its 3 wheels and the child in the passenger seat beside him kept squirting at the audience with his water gun! That was really cute.

The Jordan regiment came out looking fierce and they were doing a fine job when one of the horses in the troop started getting a bit squeamish. The poor horseman he kept trying to get the animal under control but the horse kept turning round and round. So while the troop was out performing their heart out the horse stole the show by being shy and fidgety! :)

Any show of patriotism brings in a bit of sentiment I believe and I must say that night was filled with splendour with men and women teaming and performing to show how good their places were.

Of course Scotland being the host they didn’t want to be outdone by anyone so they performed for all they were worth and it was dashing to see girls doing their traditional dance along side men in the band.

And last but not least, truly a man in uniform makes the heart beat faster. :)

Apprehended by Police……Almost

 

Last weekend started off to be a normal day, actually it started off with a good feel because the two of us were up and about early. We were ready to go out by 8 AM itself, felt as if we had a whole lot of time to do things. Shaiwal decided to start the day off with some sweets so he went about trying to open Haldirams Cham Cham tin while I was cleaning the vessels. All of a sudden he started yelling with pain and then holding his right hand thumb close he rushed to the sink. Oh great cut his finger did he?!!! I looked on thinking how careless?

Suddenly Shaiwal turned back and said clean the walls otherwise it will stain. I gaped, “what?!” I turned around to see that his blood was splattered on the wall and quite a lot lay on the floor. It took me a minute to comprehend. He had cut his finger quite deep in fact two inches more and he would have lost the tip. Under the tap, blood refused to stop, so I rushed and got my cotton tshirt out, rolled ice in it and put it to the wound, made Shaiwal sit with his hands over the head to stop his bleeding.

As in all emergencies, I called up family to ask what to do? Over the phone that sounds quite normal, I mean so what he cut his finger and he was bleeding a bit. He’ll live. In person however it was turning out to be quite frightening, Shaiwal kept bleeding heavily and continuously, I was at my wits end when by 11:30 he didn’t show the courtesy to stop bleeding.

Since all clinics were closed due to the weekend, I called up the emergency number, a pre-recorded message said - ‘If you are in a life threatening state then continue the call else hang up!’’ What nonsense, I wasn’t in a life threatening state I just wanted advice on where to take Shaiwal and get him stitched up. So I called the nearby hospitals and they said we don’t do accidents minor or otherwise!!! So what do I do? Where do I go?

So that’s when I rang up 999. They answered within 2 seconds and said – “Police/Ambulance/Fire Force?” I answered saying I didn’t need any of these but I had a situation at hand and I needed to take my husband in for medical care so what do I do?” So they wanted to know if they should send in the Ambulance?!!! Oh god what drama, dude I know he is bleeding a lot but I wouldn’t call in an ambulance just yet. They put me on to the police instead, a nice lady picked up and asked me very patiently (I guess they are trained to be) – “Did I attack my husband?” That’s when I thought, can I go back to bed please? Could you please make this be a dream dear god?

I patiently (even though I am not trained to be) explained my situation and asked for advice. She said I needed to take shaiwal to the western general hospital and gave me the address. SO I finally called in a taxi took him there!! He got medical attention and I came back home emotionally drained. What a day!