BANGALORE: They call it Pangea, the name referred to a wonderful idea of what has been called people-to-people diplomacy aimed at working towards a world sans strife, borders and conflicts.
The word Pangea means a single continent. Once upon a time earth was stuck together as a single continent. But modern world divided it with mistrust, conflicts and violence. Noted documentary filmmaker Jehane Noujaim conceptualized the idea, Pangea Day, to bring the world together through films. On May 10, a section of techies in Bangalore witnessed to a clutch of powerful short films and live music as part of Pangea Day, which envisages the congregation of people at different parts of the world simultaneously.
People gathered at different locations such as Cairo, Rwanda, London, Los Angeles and Mumbai, watched the films simultaneously. In Bangalore, the Pangea the film screening became a reality thanks to IT firm ThoughtWorks. Techies gathered at its office at Diamond District way ahead of the scheduled screening at 11 p.m. The casual performance by a local band added spice to the event.
A total of 24 short films were shown, selected from 2500 entries from over 100 countries in an international competition. The show started with a short film, Pale Blue Dot in which American astronomer, late Carl Sagan spoke about a photograph of the earth from a distance of four billion miles.
"The portrait of our home as a tiny, fragile speck of blue adrift in an unimaginably vast sea of space." When he reminded us that earth is a "mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam", it served a stark reminder of all those absurdities humans indulge in these days: wars, conflicts and boundaries.
Some of them were as short as a TV commercial -- powerful enough to stir one's soul and rekindle a sense of awe, hope and oneness. No film went without receiving prolonged applause from the crowd, awed with the powerful messages contained in them.
They clapped their hands in conjunction with the applause of crowds sitting in Rwanda and Cairo on seeing these films, which tell true stories human lives, their tribulations, angst and hope. One woman techie could not help wowing at the sight of a little African boy, who lost his arms and legs in conflict, writing on his notebook.
There were more such similar 'wows' and expressions of awe and disbelief on seeing such stark reminders of life, perhaps a virtual realization for the techies to know that there is life beyond the comforts of home-delivered pizzas and perks.
Despite all odds, few souls from Sierra Leone refugee camp came up with a band and sang their misfortunes away. The band, Refugee All Stars, must be a source of inspiration for anyone, felt down by the little hiccups in life.
The event gave the techies an opportunity to realize that there are people on the other side of the earth, victims of endless chains of conflicts, poverty and war.
Hypernova, an Iranian band was a revelation. The band sang about one love and one world, while telling us that though they don't have answers to all the problems of the world.
It was not just films: there were thought-provoking ideas and revelations about the complexities of human lives, the meaninglessness of boundaries, etc. by psychologists and other experts.
"It is a indeed a good attempt as we come to realize through these films about people who are born to drink the bitter pills of life. Pangea is a good idea as it tries to bring together people through these wonderful films," said Sivakumar, working with a semiconductor firm.
The exotic idea of Pangea brings with it lot of novel concepts which includes promoting people of different nationalities to sing other countries' national anthems so as to imbibe a sense of respect to others' cultures and feelings. So you have Kenyans singing Jana Gana Mana with the same fervor and enthusiasm as that of Indians.
First published in http://www.ciol.com/News/News-Reports/Coming-together-on-Pangea-Day/12508105918/0/
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