The Bristol Hotel in Gurgaon on the south side of New Delhi is one of the smartest in India, and it had a big New Year celebration planned with popular DJ rapper Honey Singh. But it didn't happen. At the last minute a complaint about his lyrics was lodged by the writer Kalpana Misra, who got up an on-line petition and sent it to the hotel's management. The petition attracted nearly 3,000 signatories and trended on Twitter. The anti-women sentiments of lyrics sung by the 28-year-old Punjabi singer, who studied music at Trinity Laban in London, were deemed particularly inappropriate after the recent horrendous Delhi gang rape, and a police report has been issued against him.
The event's organisers have not disclosed how much the cancellation has cost them, but it is thought to be no small sum.
The full story is carried in the Times of India.
