OLX Daastaan was an initiative to reunite people with their belongings that didn’t make it across the border 68 years ago. OLX, an online marketplace for used goods in over 40 countries including India and Pakistan, opened up their platform for cross-listings between the 2 countries. People on both sides were then asked to list items on the website that belonged to the pre-partition era. Thus, giving many a platform to track down and regain their long lost belongings from the partition, while bringing 2 sparring nations a step closer.

On August 15, 2015 which was Independence Day for both India and Pakistan, OLX.in and OLX.com.pk merged their platform for cross-listings. People from both countries were then asked to list items from the pre-partition era on the website using the prefix #DAASTAAN. This gave the migrants from the partition a chance to trace and trade back their lost belongings after 68 years.

People from India and Pakistan started sharing stories of their lost belongings from the partition, using #Daastaan which stood for timeless stories. OLX Daastaan became a social media conversation, bringing the 2 countries a step closer. We recreated 2 of these stories into poignant films that averaged 14 Million views across platforms, and got shared across social media.

• Over 1 million listings on OLX India’s and Pakistan’s platform.

• Over 1000’s reunited with their belongings

• User engagement went up by 334.77%

• 62,078,818 in media impressions

Amidst all the numbers, our biggest result lie in the intangible joy of those who got back their past and the hopes of those who are still waiting.