Love thy neighbour. We’ve heard that many times before.
But before Bushra Ansari and her sister Asma Abbas sang a catchy Punjabi tune about it, perhaps no one had watched, sung and danced to this age-old commandment.
Whilst the military, political and diplomatic relationship between India and Pakistan may have hit a new low in the past few months, yet a heartwarming Punjabi song has emerged which has become hugely popular in both the countries, and beyond.
Within a day of its release, this video, titled ‘Humsaaye Maa Jaaye,’ meaning neighbours born of the same mother in Punjabi, has gone viral on social media.
The video shows two brightly-dressed, chatty women singing a foot-tapping song, ‘Gawandne, gawandne’ (meaning female neighbour in Punjabi), which has appeared on Facebook and Twitter timelines as frequently as it is landing up on social media chat platforms like Whatsapp.
Two of Pakistan’s highly acclaimed actresses, Bushra Ansari and Asma Abbas (also sisters) have performed in this video depicting how India and Pakistan have been living under a shadow of violence and distrust for decades now. Apart from acting in the video, these actresses have also sung the song, which has been written by their eldest sister and renowned poetess, Neelum Ahmed Bashir.
On the musical side, the song is an eclectic mix of Punjabi folk, Bollywood and hip-hop, while the video of ‘Humsaaye Maa Jaaye’ depicts India and Pakistan as two women neighbours, who while working in their kitchens, chat with each other from across a wall between them. The top of the wall has glass shards studded into it, so that they can't jump across it.
The video isn't just about song and dance but also embodies a deep message.
Their conversation ranges from what should be cooked for dinner to how the media preaches to them that the other is their enemy and also has an atom bomb.
In the midst of it all, they realise that they are united not only by the hatred dictated to them by their politicians and the media but also by socioeconomic challenges like hunger, poverty, illiteracy, electricity and inflation. That’s when both women decide to sing and dance their hatred away.
