The Telegraph (Kolkata) reported on 5 January 2009: A major lacuna in tribal societies is the absence of documentation of their cultural wealth and of recognizing personalities who have enriched their culture through songs, poetry, literature, and the performing arts.
Khasi bard, singer, and radio artist Skendrowell Syiemlieh spent a good part of his adult life serving the society through songs for which he created his own lyrics and tune.
Every singer is in some ways a historian who is either lamenting the current state of affairs, extolling the immediate past or inspiring hope for the future.
[4] Syiemlieh's music style was a mixture of Khasi folk music and Western country narrative style that blended both folk instruments such as the duitara and flute with guitar, violin, and drums.
He would often begin his songs with the words "Ha sngap ho para ngan iathuh khana” (Listen o my brothers and sisters, I will tell you a story)"[5]