Kusunda language training begins in Pyuthan

By Our Correspondent,Bijuwar (Pyuthan), Mar. 4: Balaram Kusunda, 37, a local of Rajpur Rural Municipality-7 in Dang, cannot speak his mother tongue.

"I am a son of the Kusunda, but I don't know how to speak or write Kusunda language. That’s why I decided to come to Pyuthan to learn my mother tongue. I need to know my language, he said.” 

Balaram, who has studied up to 10th standard, said that in the future, he had a dream to teach others once he learned the Kusunda language.

Raju Kusunda of Swargadwari Municipality-2 was aware of the Kusunda language but did not speak it. He said, "I think we should learn the language of our ancestors.”  Raju, 40, has now started learning the Kusunda language. 

Sarumarani Rural Municipality has organised a 15-day language class to help preserve the Kusunda language. The municipality has also passed a law related to the preservation of Kusunda language, said Jhag Bahadur Bishwakarma, chairman of the rural municipality.  

Bishwakarma said, “Our aim is to preserve and develop the Kusunda language by handing it to the new generation,” he said. 

Dhan Bahadur Kusunda, Chairman of Kusunda Development Society, said that Sarumarani Rural Municipality is the first municipality in the country to conduct Kusunda language classes.

He said that the municipality has conducted a training programme for the preservation of Kusunda language and culture. He emphasised that the language would survive if public interest increased.

According to the Kusunda Development Society, there are 159 Kusundas across Nepal, including 50 in Pyuthan.

Among them, Kamala Kusunda, 50, from Ghorahi-18, Supailakhuti, is the only person who can speak the Kusunda language fluently.

Uday Ale, a Kusunda language researcher and teacher, said that the Kusunda language could be revived. At present, apart from Kamala, no one knows this language completely and speaks fluently.  

The Kusunda language is a separate language that does not belong to any of the four language families in Nepal. It has 25 consonants, six vowels and about 2,000 original words. 

The Kusunda tribe lives in districts of Pyuthan, Rolpa, Dang, Kapilvastu, Arghakhanchi, Surkhet, Tanahun and Gorkha.  

President Dhan Bahadur Kusunda, said that 159 Kusundas are living in eight districts, including Pyuthan. Of them, 67 are men and 92 are women.