As a tribute to India on its 67th Republic Day, search giant Google’s doodle showed a march of a richly caparisoned camel contingent of the Border Security Force. This is also a major attraction at the annual parade at Rajpath on 26 January.
The doodle presents six colourfully bedecked camels, and bandsmen riding on their backs, playing martial music, marching elegantly in one neat row as on the ceremonial boulevard.
Each of the six camels carries a letter of the word ‘Google’ on their golden caparison.
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The BSF is the only force in the country to have these majestic and elegantly dressed four-legged animals for both operational and ceremonial duties.
They are used by the personnel for patrolling along the Thar Desert running along the Indo-Pak International Border in Rajasthan.
The 90-camel contingent first became part of this celebration in 1976. This was after it replaced a similar squad of the army which had been participating in the parade since it first took place in 1950.
The contingent this year was made to skip the Republic Day dress-rehearsals initially, signalling that they may not be part of the parade, but they were brought in for the exercise a few days before the grand event where French President Francois Hollande is the chief Guest.
The BSF camel contingent is the inheritor of the heritage of the Bikaner Royal Camel Force, known as ‘Ganga Risala’, and is based in the border town of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.
The contingent was present to welcome US President Barack Obama at the last Republic Day parade and to entertain the guests during the Afro-India summit held last year.
Google had marked the 65th Republic Day with a doodle featuring ‘Jaanbaaz’, BSF’s motorcycle daredevils.
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