A much-needed interaction

Amidst all the hatred and ‘go to Pakistan’ chants, love and peace also thrive. And a recent online event conducted by Open Sky, an art community, stands as evidence to it. Under an event ‘Project Azaadi’, the initiative has been connecting citizens of India and Pakistan over the past three years. The participants of the project can enroll themselves for the event and can send messages, art work such as painting, poems, and pictures, and dedicate them to the people from the other side of the border.

In spite of all the differences, and border tensions, citizens of both the countries, which share the same past, had wonderful things to tell each other! Gayathri Krishnaraj and Prem Sylvester, members of Open Sky, who were also key in opening the Chennai chapter of the community, share their experience in conducting this event successfully for the past three years in the city.

Revealing more about the project, Gayathri says, “Basically, we put the word out about the event and ask the willing participants to send their artworks to our email addresses. They provide the pictures and their profile details so that we tag them with their work. It is also completely fine if they want to be anonymous. We curate and filter out content and post them on the events page, where it will be open for discussions.”

Fatima Lodi from Islamabad, was one of the participants in the event who posted a picture of her at the India-Pakistan border posing with two Indian cops. Answering how these events are important in the current scenario, Fatima opines, “The pertinence of engagements like these is increasing as the two countries continue to be partitioned seven decades on. With tough questions about territorial jurisdiction, the arms race, and terror-financing networks going unanswered, forums that bring together the youth of our two countries are keeping alive the hope of re-stitching the disintegrated social fabric of south Asia. It is also paving the way to more organic and effective addressal of mutual grievances.”

Prem Sylvester, who is a final year engineering student, an integral part of Open Sky, says, “Peace and solidarity between these two countries are essential. And art is something that, we think, connects people across borders. The idea behind this project is to state that despite our differences, there are many things which can connect both the countries. It also brings to the fore that we aren’t that different from each other.” When asked about his favourite post from the project, he says, “There were a lot of them. One particular video had people singing the anthems of both countries one after the other. The one thing we are now forgetting is that both the countries are made of people with the same historical background.”

Talking about what kind of impact such events would make, Prem says, “Take the act of Fatima for example. It is a rather simple thing for a Pakistani to pose with two Indian cops for a picture. But the impact it makes among the public is huge. That is what these events aim to achieve. We have to realise we all come from the same roots.” Not only art works, even some light-hearted conversations take place, says Gayathri, “There was one time when someone from Pakistan asked ‘please give us Shah Rukh Khan, and someone from our country replied — ‘we will give SRK but you guys please give us Fawad Khan’.”