Jingle all the all the way

It's time to deck the hall with boughs of holly! Yes, the intention is to put that song in your head, because it's almost Christmas! And two weeks before Christmas comes carol singing, where you can go to anyone's house with a bunch of friends and sing upbeat carols like "Jingle Bells" or serene ones like "Silent Night".

“Most of us aren't singers, but it's fun and festive," says Jaysheel Anand, who goes carol singing with her friends every year. ?
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“Basically, we figure out a route map, give the people we're visiting a heads up, and go sing to them. We take a guitar along to make it musical. We generally choose a dress code and either wear black and red or red and white. The small amount of money we collect, we donate it to a children's home in the city," she says.

That's the case with most merry makers and Bangalore is full of them.

Another happy group is the Karnataka Goan Association. Neil D'souza is gearing up for a day of carol singing with kids, teenagers, and adults. “As part of the association, we visit senior citizens. We're two groups who visit different parts of the city. Generally, senior citizens are not in a state to come out of their house. So we go make them happy in their homes," he says.

There are also a few people who take carol singing very seriously.

Phiju P Ninan, along with 35 youngsters, goes in a hired bus every year and covers half of Bangalore.

“We have begun planning already. We'll be going carol singing on 19, 20 and 21 of this month. We'll start at Johnson market and go until KR Puram and other areas. We prioritise old age homes and unwell folk, because Christmas is a time to share and care. If they can't come to church, we'll take the church to them," he says happily.

If you spot a bus full of happy faces, singing Christmas carols, it's probably Phiju and his friends. With these carol singers, the festive mood is infectious.

“There's just so much joy in giving the gift of music to others. I have been going ever since I was a child. Back then I went with the church, but now, we're a group of musically inclined people who like to sing and do a good deed," says pianist Madhuri Isaac Chauhan. So keep your doors open, let those singers come in, sing to you and make you happy and festive.