WhatMakesUsOne: The narrative reveals the invisible thread of unity in diversity through the visible thread of light in the video timeline and stitches a billion voices into one song in an audio timeline.

This thread of light binds all of India as one family, connecting the dots between multiple religions, regions, cultures, languages, and festivals and dissolving our differences and distances at the speed of light.

India is a journey you can’t complete in one lifetime but the thread of light travels across India from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Mumbai to Meghalaya, cinematically and metaphorically capturing a day in the life of India through timelapse and timeless transitions.

The musical narrative binds a billion voices into one song, delivering this Idea of India. Celebrating and elevating the same thread of unity in diversity, adversity, and festivity.

Situation: India is the world’s most populous democracy and one of the most religious and ethnically diverse nations. Historically, this diversity has been its strength. However, today, these are becoming differences and threatening to question the idea of India. Against this backdrop, the core Indian principle of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (meaning ‘One Earth One Family One Future’) is more relevant than ever.

In the 75th year of India’s Independence, The Times of India (TOI), India’s largest circulating English daily, decided to not just chronicle but to shine a spotlight on the beauty of the unity in India’s diversity.

Brief: Remind the people of India that a common thread continues to bind everyone as one nation, despite diverse differences.

Objective: Drive engagement by sparking conversations about what India means to its people, across all platforms.

The Editor sets out to reveal the Idea of India represented and illuminated by the travelling thread of light that binds all of India as one family connecting the dots between our differences and uniting the collective soul of our country, blurring the boundaries between multiple religions, multiple regions, multiple cultures, multiple languages, multiple festivals and dissolving all our diversity into unity, at the speed of light.

India is a journey you can’t complete in one lifetime but the thread of light travels across the country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Mumbai to Meghalaya at the speed of light, through timelapse transitions. Over a thousand forms of the same light transform Temples, Churches, Mosques, Gurudwaras, Monasteries, Monuments, Gods, Idols and Statues across India. Light travels through trains, trucks, boats, rickshaws from one location to another occasion, from one region to another religion, dissolving our differences at the speed of light.

India was an idea long before it became a free nation. It was the song from a thousand years ago. It was the spirit of thousands of freedom fighters. It was the same thread of unity in diversity and adversity and festivity. It is the same thread that continues to bind us as one nation, despite diverse differences.

But in today’s polarised environment, people look for unifiers to reconfirm their belief in ‘ekta’ (meaning ‘unity’). On this 75th Year of Independence, from India’s Republic Day (marks and celebrates the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect on 26 January 1950) to Independence Day, TOI launched #WhatMakesUsOne. This platform enabled people to celebrate the idea of India in their own words, such as unity, constitution, culture, cricket, and so on – a united family, blurring boundaries between religions, cultures, and languages.