Tamil Nadu keeps 'Tamil Thai Vazhthu', and that's just fine

The newly-appointed Vijay government in Tamil Nadu has declared that the tradition of singing 'Tamil Thai Vazhthu' (Mother Tamil's Blessing) at the beginning and 'Jana Gana Mana' at the end of official events will continue.

We fully lend our vocal support to that. State and national songs and anthems are not just ceremonial fluff, they're also the perfect reminder that states make up a nation, so we can chill by having a full playlist without getting antsy about 'ranking' or order of songs.

And why should Tamil Nadu have all the fun? Uttar Pradesh should also be belting out a rousing ode to its sugarcane fields, Gujarat humming a jaunty ditty about its industrial parks, Kerala crooning a coconut-infused ballad about being cutting-edge in the backwaters.... Let politics become less about shouting matches and more about karaoke.


After all, it's tough to turn an assembly into a fish market if people are busy remembering the second verse of not just one song but two. In fact, IPL teams - more relevant these days than governments when representing geographic identities - should craft and popularise team anthems. KKR has already shown the way with its Vishal-Shekhar theme track, 'Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re' (We'll Do, Fight, Win).

An anthem may be national but the vibe is local. And nothing gets more vocal for local than a state-national song-anthem remix.