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by Reena Daruwalla, guest writer for Nancy Hayssen.com

Someone recently sent me the link of a youtube video, in which Kenyans are singing the Indian National anthem. When I listened to it, it felt strange and wonderful, all at the same time to me. Although the people were singing familiar words and sounds, it sounded slightly strange to my ears which have heard and sung my national anthem literally hundreds of times, but it was also a truly moving experience.

This amazing and unique idea was initiated under the auspices of the Pangea Day celebrations which sought to promote the idea of universal harmony in completely new way. On May 10 2008 at a predetermined time, at six different locations all over the world, 12 short films from selected from all over the world were screened. People gathered at these venues in vast numbers to watch these films that were meant to convey the universal ideas of love, dreams, borders, tears, Us/them, fear, anger, laughter and reconciliation.

Films were invited from all over the world and 12 winners were chosen from those entries which were simultaneously screened in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro. They even managed to coordinate the drum beats as they were being played at these different locations of the world!

I thought to myself how wonderful that something like this is possible and how far this goes in promoting the idea that no matter what geographical, economic, political or other considerations divide us, underneath it all runs the thread of universal brotherhood and a oneness of all mankind. When I listened to my national anthem being sung by those wonderful Nigerian voices, I actually got goose bumps, it was so brilliant and so poignant! This idea in applied to other national anthems as well.

Celebrities like Cameron Diaz, Robin Williams, Forrest Whittaker and David Blaine among others leant their voices to the Pangea Day celebrations. I think it takes a wonderful idea like Pangea day to bring home to us the fact that under the color or our skins we are all essentially the same! Its like the Stevie Wonder song Ebony and Ivory that goes: “We all know, that people are the same wherever you go…”