Present Tense is The Swaddle Team's stream of consciousness response to the mess in the news.

Sadat Hasan Manto is once believed to have said: “Despite trying, I could not separate India from Pakistan, and Pakistan from India.” It is an apocryphal quote, which also appears in Manto’s niece Ayesha Jalal’s book The Pity of Partition.

But let’s delay talking about that for just a little while longer. What else has been happening? Black dandyism at the Met Gala, and the subsequent mandatory hot takes session: "this is so cheesy," and "South Asians slay" and "how does cosplaying a monarch align with the politics of dandyism?" and "SRK isn't just wearing a suit, silly, he's subverting it."

On Apple TV, The Studio is Hollywood making fun of itself. In theatres, we’ve got Raid 2, for anyone who has heard of and has watched Raid 1. Then there is Hit: The Third Case, for diehard fans of the first two Hits. And what's this – Kesari: Chapter 2? Stop the press! If none of that is for you, worry not, for we also have A Minecraft Movie and, it appears, Thunderbolts, which is the Marvel Cinematic Universe's 36th movie.

Over the weekend, Lady Gaga broke the record for the biggest audience at a concert – 2.5 million people attended a free concert at Rio de Janeiro. But wait, as of today, reports state that it might have been the target of an attack: two people have been arrested on suspicion of plotting to bomb the concert to target LGBTQ people. A third person allegedly planned to perform a “satanist ritual by killing a child or a baby” at the concert. Chat… what the fuck?

Anyway. The more important takeaways and questions from all this: Was Diljit on theme at the Met? Does Thunderbolts have enough representation? Is it empowering if women officers debrief a country on its airstrikes?

And we're back to that, for lack of other distractions. There are going to be mock drills in several states today, on the Home Ministry's orders. It is to test civilian defences in the event of a "hostile attack." Quick reminder: the last time this happened, in 1971, neither of the countries involved had nuclear weapons. Now, they do. And they've been waving them around like giant phallic clubs for over two decades. Cue: fireworks for the long awaited light and sound show.

A lot more has already happened, of course. The name given to the operation is “Sindoor.” In a recent war film, a character referred to the Line of Control as a “pallu” – specifically your mother’s. Not very long ago, the prevailing metaphor for cowardice in political speeches was “wearing bangles.” So which is it?

We’re thinking about what people over there might be doing right now. Perhaps laundry. Watering their plants. Exam prep. Grocery shopping. Drinking water. Putting on make-up. Going for a run. Playing gully cricket. Making love. Dancing. Grieving. Evening tea. They’re probably talking about it in between. They are probably reading books.

But what shall we do during the blackout this evening? It'll be too dark to read, and we hear you aren't supposed to have screen lights either, so e-books are out. Here, let's brainstorm other ideas together. Shall we paint something? Shall we play a little antakshari? Do a can-can line into the sunset? A world of possibilities, on the off chance that the world ends.