In a Tamil Brahmin household, mornings aren’t complete without the holy trinity of filter coffee, The Hindu, and MS Subbulakshmi’s “Suprabhatam”.

I grew up on my mother’s radio-ordained playlist of Lata Mangeshkar and Mohd Rafi. But as a teenager, when every girl in school fawned over the Jonas Brothers and Taylor Swift, I, too embarrassed to ask my classmates the names of the songs they were singing, turned to Google. It eventually dawned on me: I didn’t care about fitting in.

Any good poet should be able to touch your heart – but Shiv Kumar Batalvi had the ability to rip it out of your chest, and then place it back there gently.

Dushyant Kumar’s poetry freed me from the cage of square cubicles and straight lives that the Gulzar School of poetry, dripping with flowery dew and the warmth of unreality, never could. My struggles were personal, and so it turned out was the language of my resistance, learned through his poetry, so irregular and unlike anything you’d have come across.

There is a tribe of parents that subjects their guests to the talent of their kids, even when said guests have no desire to be subjected. My parents were the leaders of that tribe.

No matter what your mood, there’s a Bappi Da composition to go with it. Our desi disco legend is absolutely irreplaceable. Today is his birthday and I don’t know about you, but I’ll be dancing – unironically – to “Koi yahan aha nache nache”.

Celebrating one year of demonetisation the main mitron himself.

The first time I met Amrita Pritam, she told me that a smoke is one of the few pleasures of life. I knew then that Amrita Pritam was the writer – and the woman – I wanted to be.

Happy birthday, Rahul Baba! We hope you at least remember your nursery rhymes.

Badmash, pagal, jhalli, bawli, Padaku, ladaku, bhukkad, piyakkad... Meet the #UssTypeKiLadki at the #ArreSiren festival

Sheetal Sathe and Sachin Mali were declared Naxalites in 2011 for giving voice to the Dalit community. They’ve paid a heavy price, but they continue to sing their songs of resistance.

Seventy years after Independence, some choose to rewrite history. We chose to rewrite the alphabet. Presenting a brand-new, updated A to Z for India at 70

How does a video with petals, magic wands and a grown man wearing gender-ambiguous clothing, go viral? Shah’s “Angel” seems to pose more questions than answers.