However, the hostilities of the past 58 years and “undesired” bans seem to have become a thing of the past with Wagah joint check post now humming with lots of activities helping in the revival of people-to-people contact. Now Pakistanis and Indians, especially artistes, can be seen dancing to drum beats, taking national flags of both countries in their hands at the international border.

Interestingly, the local Manch Rang Manch (MRM) of Shiromani Natakkar, Kewal Dhaliwal (Amritsar) and Madiha Gauhar of the Ajoka Theatre (Lahore) have evolved a unique venture to bring artistes of both countries on one stage under the banner of “APPAN” (All Punjab Performing Artistes Network). The translation of Punjabi word “APPAN” into English is “Ours”. The proposed activities include joint production of plays, holding theatre workshops, organising events like anniversaries of heroes and Sufi poets of both Punjabs, Basant, Baisakhi in Lahore and Amritsar simultaneously.

The founding groups of the network — Ajoka (Lahore) and MRM (Amritsar) — undertook the first joint production, “Peero Preman”, a play directed by Kewal Dhaliwal of Amritsar and produced by Ajoka (Lahore), last year. The unique venture helped in strengthening the cultural ties between the two Punjabs. Peero was the first poetess of Punjabi who has lately become a symbol of composite Punjabi culture.

Another manifestation of APPAN’s work is the publication of Shahid Nadeem’s play Bullah (Pakistani writer) in Gurmukhi by Arvinder Kaur Dhaliwal. Another milestone in the cultural exchange programme was the organising of “Panj Paani” Festival at Lahore in March this year. Many collaborative ventures and exchanges between artistes of East and West Punjab have taken place since then.

Luna, a Punjabi play, a production of Amritsar’s MRM, was given standing ovation by the audience in Lahore. The Pakistani artistes had to cancel their own play so that they could see the performance of Luna the next day also.

Renowned artistes from Lahore and Amritsar attended a seminar on “Contribution of literature and theatre for creating permanent thaw in the region” organised by the MRM at Amritsar.

The MRM and the Ajoka Theatre are now contemplating to organise a joint “Manto theatre festival at Lahore and Amritsar in November. The legendary Urdu writer had lived for a long time in Amritsar before migrating to Lahore at the time of Partition. Both theatrical groups are also planning to revive the pristine glory of “Preet Nagar”, which was the hub of cultural activities before Partition.

The ongoing blustering bonhomie on both sides of the Radcliff Line is attributed to the relentless efforts of the writers and artistes from both countries who have played a significant role to bring closer both Punjabs (East and West), coupled with the efforts of saner politicians. The artistes have convinced the people of both countries that the past cannot be allowed to impinge on the future and also that the line that Cyril Radcliff drew across India cannot be allowed to become a barrier. The artistes have pledged that the following years cannot be wasted merely because the last 58 years were spent hating each other.

Guru Nanak Dev University, Punjab Naatshala, BBK DAV College for Women and Springdale School have also emerged as the hubs of live performing arts on this side of the border. These institutes, in collaboration with the Ajoka Theatre Group of Pakistan and the Manch Rang Manch of India, staged the famous Greek play “Oedipus” written by Sophocles, one of the eminent playwrights of ancient Greece. The play was the outcome of the workshop organised by three theatre stalwarts of India and Pakistan, including Mr Partho Banerjee from Kolkota and Mr Kewal Dhaliwal. The 60-odd talented artistes from India and Pakistan presented the play. The play began with traditional masque performance. It is based on famous Greek tragedy drawing on the Freudian philosophy of Oedipus Complex.

Theatre workshops have created a new genre of theatre culture among young artistes and they symbolise the cultural affinity among the artistes of India and Pakistan. Towards the end of the last year, the joint workshops of Indo-Pak theatre brought Amritsar an array of new and old plays from across the country and a range of discussions on the theory and practice of theatre.

The Indo-Pak theatre workshops brought several special experiences: the return of early Prithvi actresses Zohra Sehgal and Uzra Butt in the Indo-Pakistan collaboration “Ek Thi Nani”. The play was, incidentally, written by India-born Shahid Nadeem who migrated to Pakistan and later became a playwright. He founded the famed theatre group “Ajoka”.

Nadeem was, apparently, inspired by the life of two sisters who have come to be recognised as a “bond across the great divide”.

While Sehgal has acted in films, television and on stage, her sister who left India in 1960 has not acted in films. However, the latter is a permanent member of the Ajoka Theatre group of Pakistan. Its production “Ek Thi Nani” in 1999 reunited sisters Zohra Sehgal and Uzra Bhatt, separated by the India-Pakistan border. The play may have been uneven, but Zohra Sehgal’s riveting performances in “Ek Thi Naani” made the event an unforgettable experience.

Zohra Sehgal, at 92, is truly the grand old dame of theatre. The play tells the story of two sisters — one who emigrated to Pakistan, the other who stayed on in India to dedicate her life to her career in acting and dance. The story loosely follows the real-life thread of the two sisters’ lives; and in doing so it follows, in some ways, the destinies of the two nations.

Born in 1912 at Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Zohra Sehgal has lived an entire century on stage and screen. When Sehgal and Butt first performed “Ek Thi Nani” together in 1993, in Lahore, it was the first time that they were appearing on stage together after four decades.