Even as Pakistani singer Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan sang off-key this week, actress Shabana Azmi and lyricist husband Javed Akhtar went across the border with a group of 10 theatre artists including MS Sathyu, Rajendra Gupta and Lubna Arif on an invitation from the Faiz Foundation for the Faiz Ahmed Faiz Centennial.

Azmi had a tearful reunion with legendary Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz's daughters Salima and Moneeza Hashmi. "Faiz is my favourite poet and even abba (writer-father Kaifi Azmi) accepted that. His completed works, Saare Sukhan Hamare accompanies wherever I go, " says the veteran actress.

Azmi says Salima, Moneeza and she share a sisterhood of sorts thanks to a common heritage, having been raised as children of members of the Progressive Writers Movement.

Azmi crossed the Wagah border on foot. "Since I was shooting in Colombo, the fastest way of reaching Lahore was across the Wagah border. It was a first for me.

To see India on one side and Pakistan on the other, with just a thin line separating the two countries, is overwhelming. Faiz's daughters were waiting on the other side, their arms outstretched with garlands of roses. Not a single eye was dry."

Azmi remembers how Faiz and her father struggled for social justice and empowerment of the underprivileged. "They dreamed of a harmonious world, " she says.

Artists can only speak the language of peace since art knows no boundaries, says the actress. "In Lahore, we were welcomed with the warmth of Pakistani hospitality. I sang Faiz's poem, Bol. Javed read a paper on the PWA, and Ila Arun regaled them with Faiz sung in Rajasthani folk style. And we ate the best food in the world, " she smiles.