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Comment by devnetfx | Hacker News Reader

This is a beautiful ad and will make you emotional. As a person of Indian background I was able to relate to it easily but I wonder what others think of it? Are you able to feel the strong emotions based on reading subtitles or does language hamper the feelings and it loses its impact.

Kudos to the team involved in this and thanks for posting this.

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I'm a Russian American. I've travelled to India for a few weeks and have some friends from the region, but I don't really understand the ethnic issues beyond a very surface level.

The ad made me very emotional. It's a very human story. The fact that the characters in the story happen to be from India and Pakistan are almost tangential to the point. The same story could have been told about east and west Germany before unification, and it would have been just as powerful.

At least for me, the background song (from renowned singer and lyricist 'Piyush Mishra') adds a LOT in making me emotional - which they didn't translate. So I decided to add a rough translation for the same in the comments, but thanks to new Google+ integration - only junk is at the top on Youtube now.

Here's it again (translation of only the BG song), timed for those who are interested:

0:59 : Those narrow streets of childhood jump in joy again ... Tying those little sweet thefts along with it ...

1:35: (Same two lines above, then ... ) Where I would fly like a kite, like a bird ... That was the time .. when my heart felt like a free peacock ...

2:21: When I would sit immersed in those paper boats all day long, ... or 'entangle' myself with those windows peeking outside ... Oh, what a time that was, when there were no restrictions in the heart ... ... That was the time .. when it felt like a free peacock ...

This is partly why I wonder if people can get the same emotional experience... Songs play such an important role in the Indian media and it can be very hard to describe. On the other hand I am glad to see that people still find it very moving (even from other cultures/languages).

Yes, the song is beautiful as well - thanks for translating it, although it's hard to do justice to the original.

Yes, agree. All the feelings in the original language can never be translated. The poetry is lost! I still love to translate things that move me, just to give non-Hindi speakers a rough context. :)

Being of Pakistani background, I could relate to it a lot. I'm actually just stunned by how well done the ad is in every aspect. I find it a little strange that a big Internet company did this, one wouldn't have expected such a thing. The reaction from my Pakistani friends is overwhelmingly positive too by the way.

It's just marketing. Wonder how well it worked and if they saw an increase in sales. :-)

I'm anglo-Australian, and this definitely was very moving, even though it's not something I can relate to on a personal level.

Agreed. I am also and I felt quite emotional!

No Indian background in me but I still teared up. This ad would work in any culture, but the separation they talk about in Indian culture makes it a realistic plot. All you need to relate is to understand what a good friendship is like, maybe even less than that.

American here, my experience with India/Pakistan is ordering "Indian Spicy" when I get my Chicken Vindaloo.

I've watched this advert a half dozen times and I end up pretty misty eyed every time.

I'm from the US, my parents are of European descent. I've never been to India, and I only know English. The story moved me, and it likely would have even without the subtitles.

Nope, had me weeping like a big white baby.

It was absolutely beautiful, and I watched it without subtitles. The searches are in English, and there is an intro on the page that gives you enough information to let the images and the music do the talking.

I don't think subtitles were a barrier for the emotions transmitted by the video. At least not for em personally.

No, subtitles don't get in the way at all :')

Texan here. The ad series is great - I don't necessarily relate to the India/Pakistan split well, but the emotion presented in the ad is quite easy to relate to.

The feeling of being separated from someone you love and missing them deeply is pretty universal. I tear up every time I see the ad.

I haven't felt such loss from a video since Snoopy Come Home.

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