India, Aug. 31 -- Not all songs are just songs. Some slip into our lives as harmless entertainment, but beneath the rhythm they carry troubling ideas. Recently, while browsing a music platform, I came across Guru Randhawa's latest track Azul. What startled me wasn't the beat but the message young girls, dressed as school students from someone's fantasy world, casually compared to an expensive tequila brand that can cost up to Rs.5 lakh a bottle. And this wasn't tucked away in some corner; it was playing as an advertisement, accessible to anyone, of any age.

The imagery is particularly unsettling. The protagonist is styled as a teacher, while girls in uniforms perform before him in a basketball court. For a state and a country that is wor...