Raj Mohan: The man popularising Bhojpuri songs in Suriname

Indian-origin residents of Suriname have kept alive traits of Indian culture, tradition and language in the south American country, where their forefathers migrated as indentured labourers over a century ago.

A glimpse of this was visible last Thursday in Mumbai's Press Club, when well-known Suriname artist, international pop singer and lyricist Raj Mohan and his band presented songs in Bhojpuri.

Mohan's band along with compatriot Ragga Menno presented over a dozen songs in Bhojpuri, a language popular in Bihar and parts of Uttar Pradesh.

Mohan wears many hats and he is also popular as a ghazal, bhajan singer, music composer and poet in Suriname.

He has released five music albums, including a bhajan album with Anup Jalota.

"We still love Bhojpuri language, our forefathers' language. We have kept our century-old Indian tradition and culture very much alive in Suriname," Mohan told reporters.

Between 1870s and 1916, thousands of people from what is now Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, who were categorised as "indentured labourers", were taken to Suriname where they were promised good wages, good food and cultivable land.

According to the 2012 Census there, Indo-Surinamese are the largest ethnic group in the tiny country in South America, forming 27.4 per cent of the total population.

Mohan and his team are currently in India to compose albums on Hanuman Chalisa and they have visited Karnataka also.

Mohan said, "As a singer and poet in the Sarnami- Bhojpuri language, I am invited in French Guyana, South Africa, Mauritius, India and several Europeans countries to perform. Wherever I go, all love my songs, which I write and compose myself."