On the resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu assembly, Omar Abdullah tweeted:

“If the J&K Assembly passed a resolution similar to the Tamil Nadu one for Afzal Guru, would the reaction have been as muted? I think not,” Omar wrote.

As analogies go, this one was spot on. And as harsh truths go, it caused a controversy: The Congress cowardly distancing itself and the BJP in their excessive love for every bit of the country missing the point by a mile.

Every Tamilian ought to point out how appalling this is:

The hanging of the three men sentenced to death for conspiring to assassinate former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was stayed for eight weeks by the Madras High Court on Tuesday, coinciding with the Tamil Nadu assembly passing a resolution asking President Pratibha Patil to review the mercy petitions.

The Tamil Nadu assembly also moved a resolution asking the president to review her decision on the mercy plea and commute the death sentence to life imprisonment.

If this were based on a pro-life argument, it would be worthy of debate. But this is at best vote-bank politics and at worst, a misplaced sense of identity.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that political clowns in Tamil Nadu have done more to undermine than help the genuine causes of many innocent Sri Lankan Tamils. Those stories sadly remain hidden under the louder talking points. In fact, how these stories come out is fascinating in itself — the way reporters and human rights’ watchdogs access devastated villages, gather stories and at times report under a pseudonym to escape the government eye.

Tomatina was yesterday and I wonder how many Indians took part this year after it was featured in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.

Now I have wanted to visit Tomatina for over half a decade — waaay before it was cool to want to go to Spain! (Doing things before it is cool is what everything is all about.) But now I’ll have a hard time convincing others that I didn’t go because of ZNMD.

FFFUUUU Zoya Akhtar!

What does one say to stories such as these?

Arundhati Roy prefers p0rn over Anna Hazare.

And a job offer from Times of India in 3, 2, 1 ..

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Phew .. that was some mental imagery.

You have got to watch this: Arindam Chaudhari speaking at Ramlila ground.

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I am only a few minutes in and it’s already so much fun. Arindam starts his speech with the use of mereko.

He says India has never seen a movement like this in the last 70 years — conveniently forgetting of course the one which got us freedom.

He says this many people have never come together for one thing. I think the producers of Gadar would disagree.

He’s trying to evoke emotions using some staggering statistics. But they’re all in millions so no one is getting how serious the situation is.

Meanwhile, the look on Anna Hazare’s face can only be summed up as: Who the f*ck is this guy?

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Anyway shoo now. Let me get some popcorn and watch this.

Uh-oh:

Thousands of bullet-riddled bodies are buried in dozens of unmarked graves across Kashmir, a state human rights commission inquiry has concluded, many of them likely to be those of civilians who disappeared more than a decade ago in a brutal insurgency.

The inquiry, the result of three years of investigative work by senior police officers working for the Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission, brings the first official acknowledgment that civilians might have been buried in mass graves in Kashmir, a region claimed by both India and Pakistan where insurgents waged a bloody battle for independence in the early 1990s.

And when we see murders, we think commissions:

“The commission should be assigned the task to probe all the killings in the state. Whether the killings were carried out by militants or security forces, it needs to be probed,” Omar Abdullah said.

Follow this news closely. It’s going to get very very interesting — in about 5 years when the results of the investigation are revealed.

As news of Rahul Gandhi’s speech in parliament develops, I wanted to point out that he is trying a high ground maneuver.

But FYI, not everyone can pull it off (Rahul G. certainly cannot) nor can it be tried in every situation.

If you want to step into the shoes of Arundhati Roy supporters, watching this hilarious debate between feisty liberal Marvi Sirmed and fictional character Zaid Hamid, moderated by Dr. Shahid Masood, Asif Ali Zardari’s balding and good twin.

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I worry about Marvi’s well-being.

My friend Salil B. shared this video. Hold on to your seats:

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That’s not what I call music but one cannot define music. He does one thing right though: Not touching the black keys (flats/sharps). That by itself makes his music less dissonant.

There is a bit after 2:19 where things are melodious (relatively) because seems to be staying within the rules of a raga – which is different from playing a raga. Calling that playing a raga is unfair to those who train for years to understand a raga.

Yes, I just analyzed that music.

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There is a hint of self-deprecating humour in the video, but let’s say Ravi Shankar thinks he is a decent musician and his followers agree and enjoy that music.

To quote this wonderful TED talk, Art is the greatest deception of all. If both the player and the audience feel great, music has served its purpose — and the naysayers should sod off. The same applies to any music, be it Katy Perry or Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia.

[It is a mistake to put Katy Perry and Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia together .. atleast until panditji wears a thicker layer of clothes below the waist.]

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This post is classified as Music, but it really is “Music”.