Forty year old Nikhil Das belongs to a family of traditional dhak players - his uncles and grandfather were all dhakis. He learnt his art from his uncle as a teenager and continues to play the dhak for various religious festivals and rituals - like Kali Puja, Bishohori Puja and Mashan Puja. For Durga Puja, he is mostly invited to perform in Arunachal Pradesh. However, the dhak alone cannot sustain him and he tried to make ends meet with  a little cultivation as well as a small food shop that he runs.