I sang all the Christmas songs I knew which is at least 30 or 40 songs, all learned before the age of ten. We American grad students had been asked to sing on many occasions, and when asked, we would only laugh and insist that we didn't know any songs. Actually, I would try to comply by singing one verse of some short song in a very small, embarrassed voice. Indians sing all the time. It is not unusual for someone in the train station to suddenly burst into song and then all heads and most shoulders on the train platform gyrate.
Someone drums on the wooden bench.
But Americans do not participate in the non-stop music of India. My Christmas concert was a big surprise to my field assistants. While my half hour program of song included about everything I could sing, my Indian friends filled in the entire rest of the afternoon and evening Christmas program with acapella songs in Hindi. We drummed variations of knuckles and palms on the table and dancing began. Some of the songs were classical Indian songs but most were from recent Indian films.