Beyond the Borders – Indo – Pak
Introduction
This grassroots campaign brings together children, artists, and young storytellers from both India and Pakistan — not to debate politics, but to imagine new futures through the lens of shared memory, humour, and heart. At its core is a collaborative children’s play written across borders, where young voices reimagine history not as a wound, but as a bridge.
Through spoken word poetry, podcasts, pen-pal letters, and intimate video stories, Beyond the Borders explores the quiet connections that survive barbed wire — food, language, lullabies, jokes. It is a celebration of stories that were never told in textbooks, of friendships that bloom across invisible lines, and of art that makes space for healing, laughter, and the possibility of something gentler.
Indo-Pak – Letters of Peace
From Izzah to Bidisha
Izzah
From Harini to Faraya
Harini
From Faraya to Harini
Faraya
From Bidisha to Izzah
Bidisha
From Ananya to Zeeshan
Ananya
From Akshita to Rameesa
Akshita Kumar
Lighthouse and Ajoka Theatre
In collaboration with Ajoka Theater, Lahore, and sponsored by the Melton Foundation, Lighthouse presents a childrens’ theatrical play on Indo-Pak peace relations. Little children from Chandigarh, India crossed the famous Wagha Indo-Pakistan border to workshop and rehearse with their Pakistani co-actors. Later the Pakistani kids paid a return visit which culminated in the premiere in Chandigarh.
The team then visited Pakistan to perform. Later in 2004, the play was revived by Ajoka in collaboration with the Springdale School, Amritsar, following the same process. The play was performed in Lahore, Islamabad, Amritsar and Delhi and attracted great media attention on both sides of the border. The bonds of friendship developed during the project led to long term friendships.