Crossing The Border Sunauli,Borders in Reality and Films Filmed in Nepal

Border of Sunauli

During childhood we used to visit different parts of Assam in a lorry ,Jorhat,Tinsukiya,Duliyajan,Barpeta,Hlafjan and other sides of Kokhrajhar with family used to be a lot of interesting moments and Lahan trip,Jhapa or Bihar Trip was not less important.Now ,from Delhi Kathmandu trip also gives the opportunity to visit Lucknow ,Bareli and Barbanki areas which are interesting areas too.Specially ,I love mango trees garden in UP areas ,even sugarcane farms and workers working there and easy transportation to these areas attract me much.I love journey in trains from New Delhi to Gorkhapur which leaves from New Delhi at exactly 3.30pm and reaches to gorakhpur at 4.00am.

India and Nepal have several border crossings open to foreigners. The most popular although is the Sonauli (India) – Belahiya (Nepal), due to its location, more or less in the middle of the south Nepal border, and maybe the shortest route to reach Kathmandu by land. Also, the location of this border cross, between Varanasi and Kathmandu or Pokhara, make this desolated and unfriendly place a choice for those who want to travel by land.

But for those traveling in Northeast India, like Sikkim, Bengal and the so-called North-eastern states (Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, etc…) the border Panitanki (India) – Kakarbitta (Nepal) located on the east side of Nepal is the best option.

The closest train station from the Sonauli – Belahiya border is Gorakhpur, with easy connection with Delhi and Varanasi. Gorakhpur is far from being a charming or appealing place, so try to arrange things in order to avoid one night there.

Just when you come out from the train station, you just need to ignore all the tuk-tuk drivers that will surround you and walk straight forward until the main road. Just on the other side, near crossroad with a statue with a guy on a horse, you’ll see a few buses stop… not a bus terminal or even a bus stand… just a few buses along the road. Try to ask the drivers about one that goes to Sonauli; usually, it stops on the right corner (if you have the trains station on your back).The bus departure more or less every hour, or even before if it’s full. The buses run all day, starting around 6 am, until evening.

 

In case that you arrive late, close to evening time, is advisable to sleep in Gorakhpur, and make the trip to Sonauli next morning, as there are not many infrastructures in Sonauli, and the place itself in “not a place to stay”!!! Anyway, the Sonauli – Belahiya border is open 24 hours.The bus from Gorakhpur to Sonauli, will take about 1.5 hours.

 

From the bus stand until the Indian Immigration Office is about 600 meters that will take around 10 minutes to walk along a dusty or muddy road (depending the weather) between trucks. Some people prefer to hire a cycle-rickshaw but it just worth if you travel with lots of luggage.

Indian Immigration Office at Sunauli. IndiaAt the Indian Immigration Office you need to fill a form and give it back with your passport to the staff that usually is very friendly. The office is very small and sometimes you need to stay outside while an officer collects the passports and give them back after stamped. Always check if you have the exit stamp before leaving any country!

Don’t be surprised if you see many people crossing the border without passing by the Immigration Office, as the Nepal and Indian citizens don’t need a visa or even a passport to cross any border between India and Nepal.After this, you keep walking along the same road and will see a big gate that represents the border India – Nepal. Is possible that an officer will ask for your passport, but sometimes they are more focus in controlling local people because of the smuggling than the tourists. 

After the gate you walk a few more meters and will see, on the right side, a small house with a kind of garden where is the Nepal Immigration Office. There you need to need to fill a form, give a photo, show the passport and pay the visa fee according to the length of your stay. Usually it will not take more than 10 minutes.

You will be welcomed with a friendly smile and a proud “welcome to Nepal!”.Probably some will ask if you need a bus to Pokhara or Kathmandu. This maybe is not the beast deal that you can have but save you from walking (or take a bus) to the bus terminal (also called Bhairahawa Bus Park).

Just after crossing the border you arrive at Belahiya, the first populated place that you cannot even call a village, but where you can find (after the Immigration Office), also on the right side of the road, a few travel agencies that sell bus tickets to Pokhara and Kathmandu. Usually there are always a few buses parked in a dusty/muddy ground that works like a bus terminal, called Belhiya Bus Park.

The soon you arrive more are the chances to have a bus to your destination, as most of the buses departure in the morning. Still is possible to catch a bus to Kathmandu around 2 p.m. There are also buses that departure at the end of the afternoon, but the information given by these travel agencies are not clear. But watch out: the bus trip to Kathmandu will take more than 8 hours that the ticket seller said… probably 10 hours depending on the traffic at Kathmandu, so if you arrive late to the border be prepared to arrive at Kathmandu in the evening!!!

Sometimes I felt that these private bus companies are taking advantage of people that just arrive and are not yet familiarized with the currency and prices, and I already notice that the bus ticket from Kathmandu to Belahiya is cheaper than the opposit way.

There aren’t public buses in Nepal, except a few local buses in Kathmandu. But if you want to avoid an overcharge ticket at the border (we are talking something about 200 rupees more,  you can walk or take a taxi to the Bhairahawa Bus Park around 7 km further along the main road and from there you have more bus companies but I couldn’t get a proper schedule of the buses to Kathmandu.

If you really need a meal is better to wait until cross the border to Nepal side (Belahiya), that has a much quieter and friendly environment. With a short walk you can see the few places available, and it can be an option for a quick meal, but if you look for something more inviting you need to take a local bus (walk by the main road until you find the Bus Terminal on your right side) and go to the nearby village Siddharthanagar (also called Bhairawa or Bahirahawa).

Borders about Nepal and India

Borders are the places when you need to show your identity as Nepali or Indian and you love to be checked but the task of examining your status reminds your the presence of borders in real life,crossing barriers of the locations ave many things to experience.There are many borders which hold us together in India and its people. Normally,when we think of a border ,we think of something that divides two places ,such as borders between two states or between two countries .We usually think of borders as geographical lines -dividers that have some kind of physical presence of political meaning.And,indeed ,this kind of geographical and separating border is one of the many kind of borders which implies much more than something which merely divides two places.

During adolescence, young adults often question, "Who am I? How do I see myself? How do I fit into the world?" While an identity struggle may be prevalent throughout life, adolescence seems to accentuate self-probing questions. When teens have a bicultural or multicultural heritage, self-identity questions can become even more complex. 

Contemporary Indian literature in English both acknowledges clear-cut limits in a number of territories (social, geographical, political, religious, ideological, literary, generic…), and repeatedly attempts to disturb those frames by suggesting ruptures, by blurring, breaking or crossing lines, while simultaneously inscribing others.

In Nepal, Hindi film consumption coexists with the country's problematically independent relationship to India.  In Nepal, Bollywood dances reveal an unstable border between tradition and modernity, identity and nation, and pollution and purity.

Part of the reason for resentment of India has to do with past border disputes. Although Nepal has had disagreements with China over their border – including at Mount Everest and in Mustang District  all significant disputes were resolved in a 1961 treaty. By contrast, border disputes have been ongoing with India over border-pillars washed away by floods or purposely moved, and over the Lipulekh pass in Nepal’s far west, at the tri-junction between Nepal, China, and India. In 2015, China and India reached an agreement regarding Lipulekh without the Nepalis’ participation, which angered Kathmandu.  As the Nepali political analyst  fearmongers about border encroachment in Nepal often reference Sikkim, which India annexed in 1975, rather than Tibet, which China annexed in 1950.


Another important factor in Kathmandu’s resentment of India has been the latter’s opposition to Nepal’s new constitution, promulgated in 2015. The new constitution faced internal opposition from a significant minority of Nepalis, primarily Madhesis, a marginalized group that consists of various castes who live in the southern plains and share cultural ties with India. After the constitution was passed, the southern plains erupted in protest with Madhesis demanding amendments to ensure a more equal balance of power with hill and mountain-based groups. Narendra Modi’s government in Delhi supported the Madhesi protesters by imposing an unofficial blockade of vital imports for nearly five months in 2015-16, crippling Kathmandu and the rest of the country, which was (and is) still recovering from the April and May 2015 earthquakes. Though the blockade eventually fizzled and Delhi later advised Madhesi leaders to call off a boycott of upcoming elections, the blockade remains a serious grievance.

More generally, many Nepalis resent what they see as a long history of Indian intervention in domestic politics. India has played a major role in shaping Nepali democratic upheavals in 1950, 1990, and 2006. In 1950, India hosted and shaped talks between the dying Rana regime, the monarchy, and democratic politicians, ushering in a decade-long period of democracy. India maintained military advisers in Nepal and technicians at Nepal-China border check post until they were asked to leave in 1970.

In 1989-90, an Indian blockade contributed to a democratic movement to restore constitutional monarchy, ending a period of monarchical control that had begun in 1960. In 2005-6, Delhi supported a rapprochement between then-rebel Maoists and mainstream democratic parties, putting in motion a popular movement that led to the abolition of the monarchy. In between these upheavals, India has been accused of manipulating Nepali politics to its own benefit. Many have charged India with unfairness in treaties to develop irrigation and hydropower on Nepal’s rivers, such as the Koshi and Gandak treaties in the 1950s and the 1996 Mahakali treaty, which has not been implemented due to controversy.  Indian actions after the 2006 people’s movement helped delay constitution drafting.

Nepali politicians, especially those on the far left and far right, have often decried Indian interventionism over the decades.  At the same time, politicians across the spectrum have accepted Indian support when they have seen it as useful in advancing their own positions vis-a-vis domestic rivals, thus helping perpetuate the cycle.

Recently, Nepal’s three major political parties — Nepali Congress, the United Marxist Leninist party, and the Maoists — have jockeyed to bolster their credentials against Indian interference. In response to the 2015-16 blockade, the UML’s then-Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli signed a Trade and Transit Treaty with Beijing, aimed at opening trade with the outside world through China. Under a Maoist-Congress coalition government, Nepal conducted its first joint military exercise with China in April, signed on to China Belt and Road Intiative in May, and ended a special Indian Embassy managed grants program  in August. Although the long-term impact of the Belt and Road Initiative in Nepal remains to be seen, China has proposed an  ùsd dollar 8 billion rail link with Nepal which would represent a massive increase over current aid. On his recent visit to Nepal,Vice Premeier Wang Pleged dollar 1 million relief from the floods.

 In 2015/16, India disbursed roughly $35.8m, whereas China disbursed roughly $35.4m. Though India pledged $1bn for Nepal’s earthquake relief, it has been delayed in disbursing these funds –. China disbursed over $10m for earthquake reconstruction in 2015-16. (However, both China’s and India’s aid contributions are much smaller than multilateral donors like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and the UN, and even other bilateral donors such as the US, UK, Japan, and Switzerland.)


But despite moves to align more with China politically, people-to-people ties remain much stronger with Nepal’s southern neighbor. This is exemplified by the popularity of Indian films — both Bollywood and South Indian — whereas Chinese films are rarely shown in Kathmandu.

A major reason for Nepal’s strong people-to-people relations with India has been the open border between the two countries, which allows citizens to cross the border without a passport.  In addition,a 10950 Peace and Friendship Treaty  allows each country’s citizens’ to easily work and own property in the other. It is estimated that over a million Nepalis work in India, and many Indians also do business in Nepal. In addition, according to a long-standing tradition that began during the British colonial period, seven Gurkha regiments in the Indian army recruit soldiers from Nepal’s hills and mountains. The salaries and pensions of Indian Gurkhas are vital to many hill communities’ economies. In fact,Nepali Gurkha troops were deployed Nepalin the 1962 Indian war with China.


 Finally, Nepal remains heavily dependent on India for trade. In 2016, 66 percent of Nepal’s imports came from India and 57 percent of its exports went to India, as compared to just 14 percent and 3 percent from and to China.And despite the signing of the Trade and Transit Treaty with China, the vast majority of Nepal’s trade with third countries depends on transit through India to ports in Calcutta and Andhra Pradesh (even most trade with China goes through these ports).

Two major releases of 2015, one a Bollywood movie Baby and another a Hollywood movie Everest, were shot in Nepal in 2014. Both films have big-name stars of their respective industries.


Bollywood Movies Which Were Filmed in Nepal

1. Hare Rama Hare Krishna:
It’s a 1972 Dev Anand film about hippies. The first Bollywood film to be shot in Nepal. Dev Anand himself and actress Zeenat Amam star in the film, which made her a big star and gave audience the popular song Dum Maro Dum. The idea for the movie came to Dev Anand when he was in Kathmandu, Nepal. It also increased the number of Indian tourists coming to Nepal.


2. Mahaan:
A 1983 movie about murder and twins. Amitabh Bachchan plays a triple role in the film. It was filmed in all three cities of Kathmandu valley.


3. Yudh:
A 1985 action thriller. Its actors are Anil Kapoor, Hema Malini, Jackie Shroff and Danny Denzongpa. The film tells a story of twin brothers who were separated at a small age and grew up to become a police inspector and a criminal.


4. Khuda Gawah:
It’s an epic romance drama film starring Amitabh Bachhan, Sridevi and Danny Dengzongpa. The second highest-grossing movie of 1992, it was filmed in India, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bhutan. The shooting was moved to Nepal because of “the challenges faced when shooting in Afghanistan”. The film is a story about an Afghan warrior’s (played by Amitabh Bachcha) romance and exploits.


5. Beqabu:  
A 1995 film whose lead actors are Sanjay Kapoor and Mamta Kulkarini. It tells a tale about a criminal, the terrorist he helps police to arrest, his estranged father and his look-alike whom his widowed wife meets in Kathmandu.


6. Gharwali Baharwali: 
The movie is comedy drama released in 1998. In the movie, Arun (Anil Kapoor) is married to Kaajal (Raveena Tandon). They are a childless couple. Then, Arun comes to Nepal, where he unknowingly marries a Nepali girl Manisha (Rambha).


7. Love in Nepal: 
It’s a romantic comedy and thriller movie released in 2004. Indian singer Sonu Nigam and Nepali actress Jharana Bajracharya are the actors. The film is about Indian ad agency people coming to Pokhara to shoot a campaign and an unfolding murder mystery.


8. Ek Haseena Ek Deewana:
The movie is a comedy thriller strarring Govinda and Priyanka Chopra. It was released in 2013.


9. Baby: 
It’s an upcoming spy thriller starring Akshay Kumar, Danny Denzongpa and Anupam Kher. In Nepal, it was shot in Bhaktapur Durbar Square, Thamel and HYATT Hotel in Baudha where Akshay Kumar also stayed during the shoot. Its director’s resume includes movies like A Wednesday and Special 26.