Rediscovering the rich roots of the Mising culture during a fellowship, Sikur Padma Pao promotes and preserves the indigenous peoples’ natural and cultural heritage through the music that he and his band, The Dynamics, create.
Sikur Padma Pao, a 24-year-old from the indigenous Mising community, was always drawn to music. A native of Gergeri village in Dhemaji district of Assam, he pursued music with an unparalleled passion.
However, it was a tourism fellowship that made him see his heritage from a new perspective. Now he is on a mission to preserve the Mising culture through songs.
Pao’s musical journey began when he was in class X. He got to know about a teacher who taught classical music in Dhemaji town. He attended the classes secretly. Though he could study music only for two months due to his matriculation exams and family disapproval, Pao remained involved in musical activities at school.
After completing class XII in 2019, he went to Guwahati because he felt that there was no scope to pursue music in Dhemaji. His decision led to heated family discussions. Eventually, they allowed him to pursue his passion, with a peremptory warning: “Do what you want, but don’t blame us later.”
Despite starting a bachelor’s course in science, he quit after the first year to pursue music – his true passion. “Why waste time studying something I’m not interested in?” he reflected.
In Guwahati, Pao faced the harsh realities of living independently. He stayed with a friend pursuing medicine and took on various odd jobs, including waiting tables at a bar.
His breakthrough came when he was given a chance to perform at the bar. His talent was obvious and soon he became a regular performer.
At the bar, Pao met Mivo Vinom, a fellow Mising artist. Vinom recognised Pao’s potential and took him under his wing. He offered Pao a place to stay and taught him the intricacies of music, songwriting and band dynamics.
Pao’s first significant exposure to the music world came when he joined the crew for the Majuli Music Festival in 2019, organised by Vinom’s older brother, Mukul Doley. This experience was a revelation for Pao, as it introduced him to a wide variety of musical genres and artistes.
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When Vinom left Guwahati in 2020 to take up a job, Pao found himself at a crossroads.
Then the pandemic happened and he returned to his village. He started giving free music lessons to village children. To stay occupied, he also started a farm called Padma N Greens, rearing chickens and growing vegetables.
After a few months, he moved back to Dhemaji town. With his earnings and support from Vinom, in 2022 Pao opened Black Café: Coffee and Music, a music hub where people could enjoy food and live music. Despite its success, he had to close the cafe in December 2022 when the landlord decided to renovate the property.
While both his ventures were successful, Pao realised that they were diverting him from his primary goal of becoming a musician.
Determined to focus solely on music, Pao began performing at small functions across Assam, making connections and perfecting his craft. This led him to meet Migang Bhuwan Tai, a renowned guitarist and a Mising like him. Tai became a mentor to Pao, teaching him guitar and encouraging him in his musical growth.
In the summer of 2022, Pao learnt about an opening for band performances at the Boggo Adventure and Music Festival in Gogamukh, Dhemaji. Encouraged by Tai, one of the organisers, he seized the opportunity.
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Pao met with Biplop whom he had met during his statewide performances. On his invitation, they formed the Padma and Biplop Band in December 2022, with Pao as the lead singer and acoustic guitarist. But Biplop soon left.
Facing the challenge of assembling a new lineup for a New Year event at the Bogibeel Bridge, India’s longest rail-cum-road bridge, Pao found Henry Milly, a top guitarist then with the Mising rock band Mirida, and then 15-year-old Yuwraj Pego, the son of that band’s drummer, as his drummer.
For the second guitarist, he recruited Mising guitarist Lerans Moran, ensuring that the band remained rooted in Mising culture to promote their folk songs and heritage.
Formed at the start of 2023, the newly formed band was named The Dynamics, after days of searching, since they wanted the name to reflect their positive attitude, energy and ideas. The band has since performed in Bogibeel and many other events across Assam.
Pao sings in Mising, other North Eastern languages like Adi and Khasi, as well as in English and Hindi.
Pao’s journey took an important turn when he joined the Green Hub – Royal Enfield Responsible Tourism Fellowship in 2023. The fellowship – aimed at enabling youth to engage with their heritage and build sustainable livelihoods through responsible tourism – introduced Pao to the rich cultural and natural heritage of Northeast India, igniting in him a deep curiosity about his roots.
Through this fellowship, Pao gained a deeper understanding of his Mising heritage and a clear vision of his band.
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He discovered the rich, untapped potential of folk songs across the six Tani tribes Adi, Galo, Nyishi, Tagin, Apatani and the Mising, descended from Abu Tani – the forefather of the Tani tribes. Each Tani tribe’s unique cultural identity, often passed down through folk songs, intrigued Pao.
Inspired to incorporate the rich folk traditions of the Tani tribes into his music, Pao realised that The Dynamics could be a powerful platform to revive and celebrate these traditions. The Mising tribe’s history, for example, involved migration from Arunachal Pradesh to Assam, and this history inspired their band’s first folk song Selloya.
Now, Sikur Padma Pao is working to assimilate more people so that the band authentically represents the musical heritage of the six tribes, blending ancestral knowledge with modern sounds.
As he starts his new tourism project in Meghalaya, Pao plans to use his earnings to document and share cultural wealth, ensuring that The Dynamics becomes a movement to preserve and promote the rich heritage of the Tani clans and Mising culture for future generations.
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The lead image on top shows 24-year-old Sikur Padma Pao during a performance of his band The Dynamics. (Photo courtesy Sikur Padma Pao)
Kinshuk Ghosh is a student at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, pursuing B.Sc, B.Ed in physics.
