His concern, however, was less about the law itself and more about what he called simple human nature. Tharoor pointed out that the National Anthem takes a quick 52 seconds, while the National Song, sung in full, runs to 3 minutes and 10 seconds. Layer on Tamil Nadu’s own recent move to have their State Song in Tamil precede both, adding another 2 minutes, and audiences could be expected to stand respectfully for a combined 12 extra minutes at the start and end of every official function.
