Kenya sings India for Pangea Day

NYTimes technology columnist, David Pogue, has a recent blog entry about Pangea Day, a global film festival coming up in a few days. As he says in his note:

Pangea Day endeavors to bring the world together and promote understanding and tolerance through film. Over 2,500 movies were submitted from 102 countries; the Pangea committee winnowed them down to 24 short movies, which will all be shown on May 10 in a four-hour marathon…. What makes the whole thing so cool is that it’s so global and so wired. In fact, its the wiredness that makes it possible; it never could have happened 10 years ago. The movies were submitted digitally; the broadcast will incorporate hosts and musicians from multiple sites; even a cellphone stream is available for viewing.

Visit the Pangea Day website to learn more.

One of the most touching and imaginative parts of this project is the Imagine anthem series. In these videos people of one country sing the national anthem of another. I just saw the video of Kenyans singing the Indian national anthem. My response to watching this video was very deep and very emotional, and I had to include it here. It may not do the same for you, as it did for me, but I am sure there is an Imagine video out there that will bring tears to your eyes.

Enjoy: Kenya sings India.

Here, set against the backdrops of Nairobi city and the beautiful landscape of Uhuru Park (Maasai country), a Kenyan choir sings the Indian national anthem.

The director has chosen the Indian anthem because Kenya is home to a sizeable Indian population (including Sikhs & Jains also) of approximately 2.5 million, most of them descendants of the East African Railways labourers who were brought over by the British during the late 19th and early 20th centuries when the British colonialists ruled Kenya and the rest of the East African region.