Your Tune is My Tune

August 21, 2008

Pritam with Guitar

Santa Singh

Many people in India listen to his ‘inspired’ songs at least once a day. Here is a definition of an inspired song.

Definition:

An inspired song is a song that sounds exactly like another song. However, it is not a copied song because the composer only got inspired by it and any similarity between both songs is incidental.

Usage:

Listener: Oh God! Your song has the same music, beats and rhythm of an old song.

Composer: Yes, but I was only inspired by it.

Simmering Valley

August 12, 2008

Ananth Venkatesh
The protests in J & K over the issue of the revocation of the command of the state Government to transfer 100 acres of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board has brought to the fore the unpleasant divisiveness hidden underneath the superficially secular fabric of the state.

An Exciting Bomb

August 7, 2008

Butterfly
Kartikey Sehgal
A green parcel-like bomb lies at the centre of a road. The police cordon off the entire area and send a protected man to diffuse it. Crowds stand at road corners wondering what would have happened had it exploded. News channels do the same; thinking on behalf of people sitting at home.

This is a time when caste and class barriers thin out. The madam in the fancy car and the salesman inside the fancy potholed road are discussing safety issues in a few sentences. And nobody asks the sweeper his caste before informing him about the green parcel that lies at the centre of the road.

Expat musings

August 3, 2008

Grishma Vadlamani, a Canadian resident, asks some profound questions about being an Indian.What does it mean to be Indian? What criteria must one fulfil to be acknowledged and accepted as an Indian?Why should one have any less claim over her birthright due to an upbringing in a foreign land?

Celebrating Bindra

August 14, 2008

Abhinav Bindra

Kartikey Sehgal

Sreesanth is more popular than Abhinav Bindra. He is more popular than Pullela Gopichand, the All England Open Badminton Championships winner. Of course, Abhinav and Gopichand can never match Sreesanth’s salsa skills and his acrobatically constipated face.

Meanwhile, India is celebrating Abhinav’s gold medal in different manners. Some are giving him money; others are naming grounds after him and sending him marriage proposals while a few are planning some controversies around him.

Lessons from Sahyadri

August 9, 2008

Shruti Garodia
Sahyadri School, was a home away from home. At the age of ten when I went to Sahyadri, it was simply an experiment, a gamble which could have worked out either way. But today when I am 22, I am grateful to my parents for having taken that gamble.

It was where I made a lot of mistakes and worked my way through. I don’t so much remember the syllabi but what I do remember is the lesson of survival, wherein you stand up for yourself, make your own choices and stick to them. It allowed me space, a great amount of freedom and time, to grow and explore various choices in life.

Pope and the Pornstar

August 3, 2008

Kartikey Sehgal
The Pope should listen to adult actor Belladonna’s idea to curb paedophilia. The actor has stated that “Church clergy are at a crisis because they get no real street-level sex education but are expected to ply the streets to deliver their spiritual message.” The actor’s insistence is noteworthy because the Roman Catholic Church has for long been under the scanner for regular and repeated child sexual abuse.

Dual Dilemma

August 9, 2008

Santa Singh
An acquaintance of mine is dating two girls at the same time. Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays are reserved for the first girl. Tuesdays and Sundays are for the second girl. He takes a well deserved holiday on Wednesdays and Fridays.