Sundar Popo

Popo worked as a watchman at a Barrackpore factory, and trained in music under the Indian classical singer Ustad James Ramsawak.

After listening to Nani and Nana, a song with lyrics in both Trinidadian Hindustani and Trinidadian English, describing the daily lives of an Indian maternal grandmother (Nani) and maternal grandfather (Nana), Mohammed got maestro Harry Mahabir to record the song at Television House, accompanied by the British West Indies Airways (BWIA) National Indian Orchestra.

[1] After the release of Nani and Nana, he followed up shortly in the mid 1970s with a string of popular singles and appearances on Mastana Bahar and the Indian Cultural Pageants.

He performed with international Indian stars Babla & Kanchan, Anup Jalota, Amitabh Bachchan, and Kishore Kumar.

There are also other tributes to Popo done by Devannand Gatto, Terry Gajraj, Rikki Jai, Ravi Bissambhar, Brian Mohan, Anthony Batson, Superblue, Dave Lall, Drupatee Ramgoonai, and Chris Garcia.

At the 2000 Chutney Monarch competition, his performance had to be cut short after one song, and he played his final concert on 1 April 2000, in Connecticut.

[1] On 2 May 2000, he died at the home he had built on Lal Beharry Trace in Monkey Town from heart and kidney ailments relating to diabetes.

Statue of Sundar Popo in Debe