Neil Nongkynrih needs no introduction. After a successful run as a musician in the UK — where he was first a student, and subsequently a mentor to artistes like Radiohead's Philip Selway — the pianist returned to India and created the Shillong Chamber Choir. Padma Shri-awardee Nongkynrih is set to mark a decade since the choir won India's Got Talent with the release of an upcoming Christmas album. "This one is special," he promises of the project that shatters myths associated with the festival. Edited excerpts from the interview:

Why did you choose to use so many languages in this album?
This is among the most special albums for me, because I know a lot about [this subject]. The choir has a knack for learning different languages. Weaving English and Hindi in their music is now the choir's signature. I have also used these languages because this story belongs to the Middle East. This could be a rude awakening for people across the globe, because the things that we have come to associate Christmas with, including snow, Santa, sledges, and Christmas trees [may not be linked with it at all]. We have a tsunami of Americanism in our culture. A lot of Christmas songs are about [catching] mommy kissing Santa. They are love songs, and do not actually celebrate the birth of Christ, which [happened] in the Middle East. Each song is in English, and another language. One is in ancient Aramaic, which is the language that Jesus spoke. A [popular] English Christmas song has been sung in Hebrew. We've also used Urdu, because, 2,000 years ago, it is unlikely that Urdu wouldn't have been part of their system and culture. Alaaps have also been rendered in Farsi.