Day 22: A very Bollywood Christmas
In my Native American family, where no occasion passes without celebration, getting into the Christmas spirit means having fun with Bollywood music. Although none of our eldest grew up celebrating Christmas, they have fully embraced it, and when we get together for Christmas dinner at my in-laws' house in Los Angeles, everyone has a task. While moms roast nuts with chaat masala and dads gather over wine, my job is to sync my phone to a Bluetooth speaker and DJ. My father-in-law, Vrajesh Lal, the patriarch of the family, starts the evening with a tall glass of pinot noir and a request for "something Christmas," like "Elvis' Christmas album." (Having immigrated to the United States from India in 1972, Vrajesh is a huge Elvis fan.) But when nuts give way to Cornish hens and cumin-crusted squash (for vegetarians), he doesn't. never fails to signal me with a new directive: "Let's put on some Bollywood, huh? My playlist includes Bhangra-style Christmas music covers, with rhythms originating in North India, songs from the Bollywood Brass Band and some of my father-in-law's favorite Bollywood hits. Not even the king can compete with this family's compulsion to celebrate Christmas with jams from the motherland.
In my Native American family, where no occasion passes without celebration, getting into the Christmas spirit means having fun with Bollywood music. Although none of our eldest grew up celebrating Christmas, they have fully embraced it, and when we get together for Christmas dinner at my in-laws' house in Los Angeles, everyone has a task. While moms roast nuts with chaat masala and dads gather over wine, my job is to sync my phone to a Bluetooth speaker and DJ. My father-in-law, Vrajesh Lal, the patriarch of the family, starts the evening with a tall glass of pinot noir and a request for "something Christmas," like "Elvis' Christmas album." (Having immigrated to the United States from India in 1972, Vrajesh is a huge Elvis fan.) But when nuts give way to Cornish hens and cumin-crusted squash (for vegetarians), he doesn't. never fails to signal me with a new directive: "Let's put on some Bollywood, huh? My playlist includes Bhangra-style Christmas music covers, with rhythms originating in North India, songs from the Bollywood Brass Band and some of my father-in-law's favorite Bollywood hits. Not even the king can compete with this family's compulsion to celebrate Christmas with jams from the motherland.
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