Thanks to protests by Bangalore's Page 3 crowd, many across India now believe you can't play music or dance in this city! Nothing can be farther from the truth.

Just walk down any south Bangalore block and you will see pandals at street corners hosting dance, drama and live music.

Some organisers invite classical musicians, others 'orchestras' (bands singing movie songs). People sing and dance quite routinely. Yesterday, I noticed that a Yakshagana show was on at a hall in Basavangudi. Yakshagana is an operatic form, which means it has both song and dance. Some fusion musicians were performing a stone's throw from there. I hear the budget for that week-long festival is a staggering Rs 1 crore. Who says the colour has gone out of our lives?

What is banned is live music and dancing where liquor is served. It's a silly ban, I agree... But then what do you say about influential people who go about lying to the world that no one sings or dances in Bangalore?