India and Pakistan have fought three wars, countless skirmishes and engaged in a decades-long standoff over Kashmir. But a new Google ad has warmed the cockles of subcontinental hearts, leading to an outpouring of goodwill on social media and newspaper websites.
The ad centers on two friends separated by Partition. That's the period in 1947 that led British India to be divided into two countries: Pakistan, a homeland for Muslims, and India, which is predominantly Hindu but officially secular.
Partition occupies a central place in the collective memory of the two nations. Millions of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs were killed, and millions were uprooted from their homes. The legacy of that era clouds much of the relations between the two countries even today.
Enter Google.
In the ad, an old Indian man tells his granddaughter about his childhood friend Yusuf and their adventures in Lahore, which was then in British India. She then — well, watch the ad for yourself. It's a little over three minutes long — and not short on schmaltz (in a good way, of course).