Project Azaadi on course, to celebrate India, Pakistan Independence days

Bengaluru: The relations between the two countries may have deteriorated, but that is in no way stopping Project Azaadi,- the annual flagship event of  Open Sky Slam -  from going ahead with promoting  collaboration between artists, poets and writers from India and Pakistan to mark their 70th Independence Day.

Poems, prose, pictures, videos, letters, messages ,testimonials for their neighbours across the border, and photographs and music will be part of the event like always. Last year about 200 artists participated through skype calls and social media in Project Azaadi, that offers a non- competitive international platform to artists to come together and perform.

 Started two years ago, it aims to not only promote friendship between the people of the two countries,  but also bust stereotypes, says Ms Fathima Lodhi, a social activist from Karachi, who is part of the organizing the team on the other side of the border.

“As artists we wanted to appreciate and acknowledge our friends from India. I realized that beyond the negativity, terrorism and conflicts, there is a huge world that is very similar to ours,” she says , happy that the younger generation is much more open to putting the animosity between the two countries behind.

 Says Ms Shruti Mohan of Open Sky Slam and the brain behind the project, “The younger generation has a much bigger heart when it comes to leaving behind the past though we all appreciate the battles we have fought.” 

 Keeping in mind that Pakistan’s Independence Day is a day before India’s, the exchange starts on August 14 and continues till August 15. The project is open to all and the messages will be published after a round of filtering on  Project Azadi’s 3.0 official page.

Haiku Jam, a popular poetry app, that allows members from all over the world to collaborate and create poetry, will engage the two nations and the rest of the world in a week- long digital poetry writing session from August 10 to 16. The app invites anyone who feels passionate about independence to express their views in three-line poems or haikus