Dear Coldplay,

I fell in love with you when I first heard the song ‘‘. I explored your music. Sparks. Violet Hill. Shiver. Strawberry Swing. Viva La Vida. Paradise. Chris, your falsettos are my biggest inspiration. 

I read the article my fellow blogger wrote about your music video “Hymn of The Weekend”. Through the video, she agreed with thousands of Indians who strangely took an offence to it.

When you covertly visited India and performed at a Hauz Khas pub, I literally had tears running down my cheeks, “How could they do this to me? All these years I’d waited for Coldplay to perform in India. I’ve seen their live videos; I’ve had shivers.” But then, you made up for all of that by being in News for shooting a music video in India. I was so happy!

Clearly, you showed India in such bright colours and wanted to show the best of it. I know you’ve got a thing for colours. I’ve seen it in other videos, live performances. My favourite band connected with my country on such a personal level, just the way it connected with me.

You tried to “Fix me” when I wasn’t in the best mood. You told me that the stars shine for me. You made my love life less sad, and you gave me strength through the bad times. You gave me the inspiration to sing better. You made me believe in a “Paradise.” You taught me that “If you love someone, let them know” (Violet Hill).

You were probably trying to find the most colourful aspects of our country, in an attempt to show the beautiful side of India to the world, especially after its reputation as the ‘rape capital’ of the world.

So, Coldplay, my inspiration, it all boils down to this. My dream to watch you live is probably ready to fall through, at least in India. And, do you know why?

It’s because we’ve decided to crap all over the beautiful video of ““ you have created. We don’t care that you showed the authenticity of India. We don’t care you showed the happiness our country possesses. ‘Cus we wear skirts, and we wear bland colours, too! We’re not just colourful beings playing Holi every day! We don’t have saadhus; we also have tarot card readers! We have a  corporate world, too! We’re so much ‘more’ than just brown skinned. You should visit Kashmir; they are whiter than you.

People are cribbing about how Sonam Kapoor got such a little screen space in the video. The glass is always half empty, and they’re dying of thirst. She loved being a part of it. I mean how dare you, Coldplay? How could you give her just a two-second shot? Lucky for her that YouTubers are asking about her. For example, a certain Erica says “The video is so beautiful. Idk why people have been bashing it? Who’s the girl at ? She’s fucking beautiful.”

There are religious groups criticising you, being angry five-year-olds by saying “Oh, pls. We don’t throw Holi colours all year round. This is a cultural misrepresentation.”  Yeah, but neither do they dance on streets in precise synchronisation on hud hud Dabangg. Our police officers aren’t as fit as him.

Woh kya hai na, the problem is simple. Since the social media has given everyone a power to speak up, instead of spreading joy, they prefer internet bullying. But, hey, I’m not defending anyone.

My letter might offend many, including my fellow blogger, but it’s sole intention, Coldplay, is to get to you, and let you know that maybe after the outburst on this video, some of your fans, and other ignorant ones scared you away, and don’t want you to tour India, any more. Probably, you don’t want to, either. And that’s okay, really. I understand.

But, here’s a fan whose ‘positive’ voice is muzzled out by a thousand ‘negative’ ones. I’m glad, though that I’m not alone. Millions in India are still getting ‘high’ to the Hymn of the Weekend while the others rant.

Love,

A fan shot across the sky