Former international cricketer Bobby Rao has a very important job on 25 December – he’s on turkey duty.
Born in Hyderabad, Bobby played test cricket for India in the 1970s but has lived in Strabane, County Tyrone, since 1980.
As a Hindu, 25 December does not hold any religious significance, but he and his Christian wife Josephine enjoy celebrating each other’s traditions, with midnight Mass on Christmas Eve a definite on the festive calendar.
“As a Hindu, we respect all the religions, that’s how we were brought up,” he said.
“I have a lot of Christian friends back home in India, so we celebrated [Christmas] with them, we went to their homes and celebrated and when we had our Diwali [Hindu Festival of Lights] they came.”
On Christmas Day, they will have more than two dozen friends around for a traditional turkey dinner, followed on Boxing Day by an Indian banquet.
“I’ll be stuffing the turkey, my wife taught me how to do all that, so we have a perfect Christmas here.”
