A year of ‘12 days of Indian Christmas’

The “12 Days of Christmas” period has a special place in Christian theology; starting from December 25, the day Jesus was born, to Epiphany, the “12th day”, representing a feast celebrating “the shining forth” or revelation of God in human form, in the person of Jesus, a day of much revelry. So much so that even William Shakespeare wrote Twelfth Night, a comedy that reflected the ultimate in human role reversals a masquerade party of sorts with servants dressed as masters and men dressed as women. As the radio station says, “Whatte fun”.

The 12 Days of Indian Christmas video, on the other hand, has a “whatte fun” special place in the pantheon of India-related videos on YouTube this 21st century parody on how an Indian in the US would celebrate this holy period, just completed one year on the YouTube leader board with over 3 million views, so far. Today, we pay tribute to the irreverent ingenuity of an animation video that makes for a hilarious five minutes.

And sir, let’s have a sense of humour, please. For, no stereotype is spared, IT graduates, butter chicken, telemarketers, the works.

Here go the lyrics of the progressive song, “On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…Twelve cricket ball tamperers, Eleven syllable names, Ten-minute yoga, Nine telemarketers, Eight Bollywood films, Seven-11 workers, Six IT graduates, Five Indian games, Four Hare Krishnas, Three butter chickens, Two nosy in-laws and a totally insufficient dowry.”

Written by the Brisbane, Australia-based Indian-origin Boymongoose band, the song is no work of musical genius (although, the drummer and the keyboardist do pair up well). Yet, it strikes a chord with its superb animation. And what is an animated viral video if it does not do that?

And so, today, just a day before Christmas festivities begin, enjoy the video, and sue me if you don’t split your ends.