The Rai people are indigenous Ethnolinguistic groups of the Indian subcontinent,
what is now modern-day Nepal and present-day India, mainly in the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal(predominantly Darjeeling Hills).
Nepali was the language of the house of Gorkhas in the late 18th
century and became the official, national language that serves as the lingua franca among Nepalese of different Ethnolinguistic groups.
Though some groups tried to collect songs from the different Ethnolinguistic groups, none has so far succeeded
in making traditional music a part of the national identity, much more a national symbol.