India’s own country music - from Mizoram in the far East

In the United States, especially in the South and the Midwest, country music is popular. Granted, not everybody likes country music, but I have to say, it is quite a unique style. Aside from Canada, I have heard nothing like it anywhere—until now.

I was surfing YouTube, and I came across this music video (see below) called “Mizo Pathian laa” (from Mizoram, the far East region of India shaded in red on the map). I have no idea who the artist is (I don’t speak a word of Mizo, the local language) or whether this title references her. But when I heard the music, I thought to myself, “wow, that sounds a heck of a lot like U.S. country music!” The only things that are noticeably different are the language and the singing style (less sharp than in U.S. country music). The instrumentation, the beat, the chords, the harmony of voices—it’s ALL the same.

I know very little about Mizoram. It’s one of those places that really doesn’t get a lot of international attention. Though it is part of India, it is, as you can see, rather isolated from most of India and really has its own culture and language. Kind of like Hawaii is to the United States, only more so.

So anyway, here is the video. Enjoy!