The Nepali art scene is seeing a surge of interest in performance art. However, it is not a novelty because of its origins in the blend of painting, theatre, and poetry. Interdisciplinary artists like Jivan Acharya, Ashmina Ranjit, <a href="https://salil.blog/music-portfolio/">Salil Subedi</a>, and Mahima Singh have used blended art forms to draw attention to socio-political issues such as state violence, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-struggles-to-balance-nature-and-industry">exploitation of natural resources</a>, and gender inequality. In 2014, Amrit Karki, a fine arts student at Kathmandu University, put together a 13-minute showpiece Fire and Ice at the Taragaon Museum in which he cut off locks of his hair and burnt them on a singing bowl in a visceral depiction of personal attachment and abandonment. “At the time, I was researching and exploring different trends in contemporary art. I was deeply struck by <a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/11412">Francis Alÿs and his ‘When Faith Moves Mountains’ </a>and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/sep/25/marina-abramovics-shocking-rhythm-0-performance-shows-why-we-still-cannot-trust-people-in-power">Marina Abramović and her ‘Rhythm Zero’.</a> I realised that art could move beyond the confines of a painting,” explains Karki. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-karnali-on-canvas">The Karnali on canvas</a>, Sewa Bhattarai Over the years, Pokhara native Karki has continued to explore this idea further. In his fifth performance art titled<a href="https://www.amritkarki.com.np/2023/03/blog-post.html"> Breathing Through the Stillness</a> in 2022, Karki stood still for more than four hours as masons constructed a brick wall around his body.&nbsp; The audience stood and watched as the bricklayers mixed cement, measured the alignments of the bricks, and stacked the bricks. In the end, the newly-constructed brick wall fell behind Karki as he walked out. Karki’s latest work ‘What You Have Given Me, I Set Free Forever’ at the Nepal Art Council last week was a part of the Rubin Museum’s exhibition ‘Reimagine: Himalayan Art Now’, and Abramović was one of the co-curators. <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/11/marina-abramovi">Abramović</a>, a Serbian conceptual and performance artist, is famous for probing the relationship between performer and audience along with experimentation of endurance art. Karki’s new work, unsurprisingly, has the audience actively participating in the making of art. The room was warm and stuffy, there was no ventilation in the wide, white-walled room. In the middle was a skeletal dome-like structure made of copper arcs that converged to form a space for an upside down receptacle.&nbsp; A giant copper water storage drum nearby contained dyed water maintained at room temperature. It was colourless the first day, yellow the second, green the third, blue the fourth and then finally red. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal's new generation of alternative artists</a>, Ashish Dhakal From 12PM to 6PM every day for the duration of the performance, Karki wore a white shirt and pants and sat on a raised copper pedestal and a white cushion just below the receptacle which had a hole on its tip.&nbsp; The audience could take a jug of water from the drum and fill the receptacle so that a steady stream of dyed water poured on Karki’s head, cascading down his body, and staining his white shirt and pants. The deliberate choice of the dye colours mimicked the pattern of<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lets-only-buy-bio-degradable-prayer-flags"> prayer flags</a> which in turn symbolises the five elements: air, space, fire, water, and earth. The artist's statement that how “viewers will witness the gradual accumulation of everything the artist has accepted from them and set free forever” suggests the influence of the Buddhist philosophy of letting go of earthly burdens and belongings.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240925110928_90381a95c139fa3a9e0f92a9dcbbf2592bcba5eb337521d69c29a561502e1aa9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20240925110928_90381a95c139fa3a9e0f92a9dcbbf2592bcba5eb337521d69c29a561502e1aa9" data-rendition-name="original" width="5137" height="3425" loading="lazy" alt="Amrit Karki's performance art "> <figcaption>Photo: Sumit Dangol</figcaption> </figure>  “Having the chance to discuss my performance art with her was a grateful experience. Even a small comment from her helped illuminate the impact of my performance art,” says Karki of Abramović who has been a constant inspiration for the artist. Karki often embraced himself. His right arm caresses his left shoulder, rubbing it, and after six hours of sitting still under the stream of water, his body looks stiff and tense.&nbsp; His chest area and the cushion on which he sat was stained dark green. His long hair had been tied into a bun which the stream of water hit. If no one filled the receptacle, Karki’s shirt would remain unstained.&nbsp; While the performance does nudge viewers to pour the water on the receptacle as a “visual reminder of the things that daily pollute and burden the mind”, the act of doing so also raises a moral question: how fair is it for someone to hand over one’s burdens onto others? Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/all-the-world-is-a-stage-in-kathmandu">All the world is a stage in Kathmandu</a>, Sewa Bhattarai&nbsp; The interval between visitors felt empty, everyone in the room waited with bated breath as Karki stared ahead, his eyes vacant, but they were also periods of respite.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240925110928_c5f06447c7553f0e104ccb05423ea2e62cfb2fda21d5b935ac01b22a19f9b7b6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20240925110928_c5f06447c7553f0e104ccb05423ea2e62cfb2fda21d5b935ac01b22a19f9b7b6" data-rendition-name="original" width="4821" height="3214" loading="lazy" alt="Amrit Karki's performance art"> <figcaption>Photo: Kripa Shakya</figcaption> </figure>  Sitting still for six hours a day while a stream of water is poured on top of your head must test the limits of human endurance. At one point, Karki raised his right foot and rested it gently on top of his left foot. The soles of his feet were also lightly stained green. “The extent and impact of audience participation depends upon the idea and concept of the creators but it is when audiences are allowed to participate that the performance art becomes stronger,” says Karki. “On the last day, the receptacle was almost always filled through the day. The more people felt connected with my performance, the more they participated.”

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Performing art that sets us free

<img width="1500" height="1547" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71529c7e80680e0600c6jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Sarah Yonzan Giri never intended to become a sign-language expert. The wife of Nepal’s famous Panchayat-era prime minister, she was living in Bangalore in 2002 when she wandered into a class for sign language by chance.“The room was silent, but there was a lot of animated signing going on,” Giri remembers. “They were shouting, but I could not hear them.”She had found her life’s mission: advocacy of deaf rights. And recently, she has found that this passion extends to the rights of blind people as well. This has given her a unique vantage point from which she can compare the two worlds, and understand and articulate the unique needs of their inhabitants.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=11537#.XiliMP4zbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sarah's children</a>Giri recalls her moment of epiphany: “I realised that I had been Deaf with a capital D, or culturally deaf. I could hear very well, but I was completely deaf to the unique language of the deaf community.” Back in Nepal, she started helping the deaf community organise art exhibitions, since the visible world is so important to those whose hearing is impaired. Every wall in Giri’s 3-storey house in Kathmandu is covered with works of deaf art — paintings that express the feelings and experiences of deaf people. In one painting, bells clang and bricks fall to one side of the canvass, while feathers float on the other, suggesting that for deaf people, loud sounds fall as gently as down.Giri says deaf people want a channel of communication with the rest of the world, but for that they need proper schools where they can learn standardised sign languages. If not, they will be stuck with making improvised signs and communicating only with those close to them. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=39575&amp;preview_nonce=35bdcd61ca&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Listening to the hearing impaired</a>, Nunuta Rai <figure><img width="640" height="515" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71559c7e80680e0600c7jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="486" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71599c7e80680e0600c8jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Every country has its own sign language – and learning at least standardised Nepali sign enables deaf people to communicate with others who know it in Nepal. It is best if they learn American sign too, which is quickly becoming the lingua franca for deaf people like English is for those who hear.Giri herself is fluent in Nepali, Indian and American sign languages (each of which are completely different from each other) and communicates animatedly in all three. Her husband Tulsi Giri was always supportive of her work, but she took time off from it to care for him before his death in 2018.One day after her husband passed away, Giri was walking along the Vishnumati when she heard a plaintive voice singing. “It was really strong and it touched my heart,” recalls Giri, who on following the sound to its source found the singer to be blind. Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/dayaram-maharjan%20-making-disabled-children-more-able,2507" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More able</a>, Sajana Baral  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APd7QswuPN4She invited him home, and along the way described everything to him: the roads, trees and buildings outside. Giri says she learnt then that sound is as important to the blind as visuals are to deaf people.After working with people with two different types of disabilities, Giri has insights into their unique worlds. For example, the deaf have two names – one given by their parents which they may never have never heard and may not answer to, and one in sign language which they identify with. “Lighting is very important for deaf people. Something that normal people would see as mysterious dim light settings would not appeal to them, because they cannot sign and talk there,” she expalins.It is just the opposite with blind people, where light is not important, but sound and touch is. When Giri brings her blind friends home, she describes everything to them — the colour of her living room, the texture of the table in front of them, what lies behind them or beside them. Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18615#.Xiljef4zbIW" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Different, but able</a>, Bhrikuti Rai  <figure><img width="640" height="466" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b715d9c7e80680e0600c9jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71609c7e80680e0600cajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>She often takes blind friends on a walk to get them familiar with their surroundings because they may trip and fall in new places. “We can control things in familiar places, but the world is a <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/seeing-it-a-different-way-for-visually-impaired-in-Kathmandu,2933" target="_blank" rel="noopener">live hazard for blind people</a>,” she says. “We put construction materials on pavements, and sometimes street animals are lying around.”Giri says she has learnt from the disabled community that they do not want to be just helped or pitied. They want to be contributing members of society.Her fondest example is a recent outing to Raksha Nepal, an organisation that helps sexually exploited women, that she made with a band of musicians called Prayas, where all the musicians are blind. The visit was healing for both communities.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-right-of-passage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The right of passage</a>, Sahina Shrestha <figure><img width="5472" height="3648" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71639c7e80680e0600cbjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Giri also helped organise an IT challenge with Bright Star Society, in partnership with hotel Yak and Yeti. Bright Star was founded by a blind friend Sushil Adhikari. Gautam Pokharel, the first blind person to pass the public service commission examinations and become a Nepal Telecom officer, won the challenge. Giri speaks with pride about these men and about many activist friends within the blind community.“I admire the work of Shristi KC, who lost her eyesight late in life and now helps friends through the organisation <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/blind-rockers-2019/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blind Rocks</a>," she says. "Laxmi Nepal, Sanjiya Shrestha, and Sarita Lamichane work on empowering women and help protect them from gender-based violence. This thread of sensitivity, interest in human values and spiritual quest runs right across the community,” says Giri.“The blind people often do not exercise correctly, because they cannot see how to do it. I want to give audio instructions for exercise for blind people, and am currently looking for open space in which to do so,” she says. With her rich immersion in these two contrasting worlds of experience, her sensitivity to difference, and her strong motivation to help, Giri is determined to do what she can to help Nepal’s deaf and blind people. Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18634#.XilkUP4zbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Not seeing is believing</a>, Lochana Sharma<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/seeing-it-a-different-way-for-visually-impaired-in-Kathmandu,2933" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seeing it a different way</a>, Smriti Basnet

Hearing for the deaf, seeing for the blind

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110815110/636a61029c7e80680e056eacjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="921"/><figcaption>Photo: JAYADEV KRISHNA SHRESTHA</figcaption></figure>Rajkumar Shrestha flicked his baton, musicians raised their instruments, and the audience at the Academy Hall in Kathmandu stood up for Nepal’s national anthem gloriously rendered with violins, violas, cello, sitar and flute by a 60-member orchestra.The lyrics of 'Sayaun Thunga Phool Ka Hami, Eutai Mala Nepali' ('We are different flowers of the same garland') evoke Nepal’s ethnic diversity, but last Wednesday they also defined the diversity of the musicians from Norway and Nepal, of various ages and ethnicities.And because this was a project of the Nepali-Norwegian Orchestra, the soothing tones of the Norwegian national anthem came next. In the centre of the orchestra, surrounded by violinists, was Eivind Rossbach Heier from the string quartet KvartalKvartetten on the cello, alongside his father who played the viola.Raised in a musical family with his mother, a cellist, and his sister a violinist, Heier first came to Nepal in 2015 as an instructor with 3 other tutors and 15 young people through a youth orchestra in Norway. Their goal was to teach Nepali musicians classical music in order to establish orchestras in the country.The Annapurna Chamber Orchestra met the Norwegian musicians from KvartalKvartetten through the World Federation of Amateur Orchestras. The project trains Nepali students for a week and organises performances in different venues of Kathmandu.Ten Nepali musicians also go to Norway for the week-long annual Orchestra Summer Course to interact and exchange music with their Norwegian counterparts. During the course, Nepali and Norwegian musicians play music from both countries even though they sound completely different.Says Heier: “Despite their differences, the appreciation of music is universal. Nepali music has more melodies but not many harmonies, which is the biggest difference from Western music. But it is the language of music that brings us together.”The exchange has also helped the musicians learn about Nepal through music and share a commonality. “It was interesting that after we heard the translated titles of the Nepali songs, we were reminded of patriotic songs from Norway as well,” said music instructor Ole Rasmus Bjerke.In the last five years of the project, the instructors as well as the young musicians know that their music has improved. “I used to play in the junior orchestra, and now I play with the seniors. I can feel the difference and my confidence building up,” says 18-year-old Bikalp Singh Dura.The number of Nepali musicians has also doubled since 2015, from 30 to 60, and is projected to expand in coming years. They range in age from 10 to 60.“The future of the Nepali orchestra is bright. It is growing through these programs,” says Rajkumar Shrestha, conductor and chairman of The Annapurna Chamber Orchestra. “The only challenge is that most students leave the country after Grade 12 for higher studies and we lose good musicians.”

Nepal-Norway orchestra finds harmonies

Nepal’s newest music festival is guaranteed to start with a bang. Surya Nepal Drum Jatra next week will feature the heavy beats of metal, wood and leather drums alongside delicate sounds of bells and singing bowls. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/making-the-sound-of-music-in-patan,3976" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The damphu, madal and dholak will inject a Nepali flavour</a> to this international event.“We want to showcase the variety of styles we have in drums because Nepal is so rich in them, but we hardly ever celebrate drums,” says festival organiser Navin Chhetri. “Every major city in the world has drum festivals, except Kathmandu — we wanted to start something new.”Kathmandu will reverberate 24-29 June with Drum Jatra concerts that will feature Nepali sounds like Naykhibaja, the drumming of the butcher community in Bhaktapur, which was almost lost due to caste stigma, and Tamang Selo, which embodies the history of that hill community.Foreign rhythms will sound out courtesy of the Australian didgeridoo and in the person of Esad Halilovich, an acclaimed drummer from Vienna who will add a Balkan flavour.Along with performances, a series of workshops by experts will allow aspiring drummers to tap into Nepali percussion styles and Afro-Brazilian beats. Events will take place all over the city, culminating with the finale at Summit Hotel on 29 June.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-and-all-that-jazz/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kathmandu, and all that jazz …</a>, Sewa Bhattarai<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a46709c7e80680e04d3dajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"/>Esad HalilovicJazz drummer, composer and teacher based in Vienna the trio-playing Halilovice has presented his compositions at renowned international jazz festivals. He will also be giving workshops on hand techniques for drummers and improvisation of drum sets.Performs: Traditional folk music from the Balkans in the language of contemporary jazz.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a46739c7e80680e04d3dbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050">Kathmandu Baja PucaA young group performing in the Naykhibaja tradition. Nay refers to Newar butchers, with whom the tradition originated, khi means drum, and baja denotes an instrument or musical ensemble. The butchers were considered untouchable, and their musical legacy was forgotten as youngsters rejected it because of the caste stigma.Performs: The recovered Naykhibaja repertoire with pride, with determination to preserve it for future.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a46779c7e80680e04d3dcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="932">Abhaya Krishna ShresthaMusician, composer and ethnomusicologist with expertise in processional drumming in Kathmandu Valley, Shrestha documents different Nepali drumming traditions, exploring ways to bring them into the academic realm and international contemporary music. His initiative to learn the Naykhibaja of Bhaktapur's Newar butcher community has raised its profile.Performs: Dhimaybaja, Navabaja of Bhaktapur, Naykhibaja of butchers of Bhaktapur, and Dapha music.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a467a9c7e80680e04d3ddjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"><figcaption>All Photos: MUSIC ROOM/DRUM JATRA</figcaption></figure>Salil SubediA pioneer didgeridoo player who has explored the ancient wind instrument’s potential beyond music, employing it in theatre, performance art, sound art, and social and public art for educational, social and cultural causes. His central theme is nature and spirituality.Performs: unique styles of didgeridoo as a percussive and rhythmic instrument, revealing the versatile nature of the instrument and the performer.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a467d9c7e80680e04d3dejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933">Kiran SahiA drummer and percussionist with a long record of performance and teaching, Sahiis best known for playing with the Nepali progressive rock band Jindabaad and the jazz ensembles Le-piro Quintet and Mad Jazz Quintet.Performs: Drums and other percussion instruments with a flavour of progressive rock and jazz.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a467f9c7e80680e04d3dfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1042">Rabin Lal ShresthaA leading figure of classical music in Nepal, and one of the country’s most respected and renowned musical performers, recording artists and educators, Shrestha taught music in the royal palace for over two decades. He has lectured and headed a department at the Fine Arts Campus of Tribhuvan University.Performs: Percussion instruments in classical style.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a46839c7e80680e04d3e0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933">Naresh PrajapatiA percussionist specialising in Madal Tarang, Prajapati studied traditional Nepali percussion under the maestros Nuchhe Bhadur Dangol and Rabin Lal Shrestha, and his work appears on albums such as Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia Live! in Nepal.Performs: A wide range of traditional drums like madal, tabla, dholak, shimmy and khi.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a46869c7e80680e04d3e1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933">Navin ChettriA percussionist, vocalist, composer and music educator, and founder and artistic director of the Kathmandu Jazz Festival (popularly called Jazzmandu). Chhetri is a pioneer of jazz in Nepal, and a driving force behind its growth.Performs: Jazz, Nepali folk, Indian classical, West African, Afro -Cuban and Brazilian rhythms<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a46899c7e80680e04d3e2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933">Mangal Man MaharjanAn accomplished singing- bowl artist, as well as theatre practitioner and Charya dancer, Maharjan is a keen collector and historian of singing bowls, and strives to unearth the ancient roots of the bowls in Newari culture.Performs: Singing bowl, in order to preserve and revive its traditions in the Kathmandu Valley.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a468c9c7e80680e04d3e3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1217" height="824">Tamba GroupA group performing in the Tamang Selo style, a musical tradition central to Tamang culture. Tamba songs are one of the oldest and most prized parts of Tamang musical tradition and integral to rituals and habits that mark the course of every Tamang’s life, from birth to death. This ensemble presents a glimpse of Tamang culture and history.Performs: Tamang rituals, folktales and beliefs to the rhythmic accompaniment of the Damphu drum.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a468f9c7e80680e04d3e4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="934"><a href="http://cadenzacollective.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cadenza Collective</a>A unique and eclectic band in Kathmandu. From humble beginnings in the early 1990s as a rock, funk and reggae outfit, Cadenza went on to become among the first bands to experiment with jazz in Nepal, pumping vitality into the country's improvised music scene.Performs: Jazz, afro-funk and Nepali folk music, creating a genre-bending sound that’s irresistible to the ears.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/jazzmandu-finale/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jazzmandu Finale</a>, Sewa BhattaraiWORKSHOP SCHEDULE24 June10:00 am- 11:00 am / Hand technique for Drummers - Esad Loliovich11:00 am - 12:00pm / Nepali Folk Percussion Presentation - Abhay Shrestha1:00pm - 2:00 pm / Essential Grooves for Jazz Drummers - Navin Chettri2:00pm- 3:00pm /Afro - Cuban / Brazilian Rhythm Section - Navin Chettri25 June10:00 am- 11:00 am / J Dilla on Drumset - Kiran Shahi11:00 am - 12:00pm / Madal Tarang - Naresh Prajapati1:00pm - 2:00 pm / Essential Grooves for Jazz Drummers - Navin Chettri2:00pm- 3:00pm /Afro - Cuban / Brazilian Rhythm Section - Navin Chettri26 June10:00 am- 11:00 am / Drum-set Improvisation - Esad Loliovich11:00 am - 12:00pm / Healing with Singing Bowls - Mangal Man Maharajan1:00pm - 2:00 pm / Essential Grooves for Jazz Drummers - Navin Chettri2:00pm- 3:00pm /Afro - Cuban / Brazilian Rhythm Section - Navin ChettriCONCERT SCHEDULE26 JUNEDRUM JATRA AT UPSTAIRS‘Cadenza &amp; Multi Drummers’Show Time: 8:00pm to 10:00pmVenue: Jazz Upstairs, LazimpatTicket: Rs 500/-Multiple drummers come together with Cadenza Collective to create a night of infectious grooves at Jazz Upstairs.(Gates open at 7:30pm. Seats are based on a first-come, first-served basis, and are not guaranteed with a ticket).JUNE 27DRUM JATRA AT MOKSH‘Cadenza &amp; Multi Drummers’Show Time: 8:00pm to 10:00pmVenue: Moksh, JhamsikhelTicket: Rs 500/-Bringing Cadenza &amp; Multi Drummers across the bridge to Moksh, a special showcase of multiple drummers with Cadenza Collective.(Gates open at 7:30pm. Seats are based on a first-come, first-served basis, and are not guaranteed with a ticket).JUNE 28EKTAAL'Subtle Sounds of Percussions'Show Time: 7:00pm to 9:00pmVenue: Kantipur Temple House, ThamelTicket: Rs 1000/-Featuring the subtle, delicate and charismatic colours of drums at Kantipur Temple House with visiting drummers and some of Nepal's top traditional percussionists.(Gates open at 6:30pm and closes at 7:30pm. Seats are based on a first-come, first-served basis, and are not guaranteed with a ticket).JUNE 29DRUM JATRA FINALEShow Time: 7:00pm to 9:00pmVenue: Summit Hotel, Sanepa HeightTicket: Rs 800/-The Finale will showcase some of the top festival performers, with high-energy drumming traditions spanning from western percussion ensembles, African drumming styles and Brazilian rhythms to traditional Nepali drums, such as Madal tarang and Women’s Tamang Selo ensemble.(Gates open at 6:30pm. Seats are based on a first-come, first-served basis, and are not guaranteed with a ticket).

DRUM ROLL

Recent outrage in Sikkim over an Indian Army expedition climbing <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-kangchenjunga">Kangchenjunga</a>, the world’s third-highest peak, has spiked attention to the need to balance mountaineering jobs with indigenous reverence for sacred landmarks. Kangchenjunga (8,586m) is not a peak as much as it is a mountain range with 16 peaks above 7,000m on the border between India and Nepal -- the word itself means ‘five treasures of the snows’ in Tibetan. Some of the highest prominences like Kangchenjunga West and Kangbachen are in Nepal, while the Main, Central and South Peaks are on the border. Climbing the peak from the Indian side has been banned since 2001 because the indigenous Lepcha community there regard the mountain as the abode of Dzoe-nga, the patron deity of Sikkim, which was an independent Himalayan Kingdom until it was annexed by India in 1975.&nbsp; Buddhists in Sikkim say their saint, Padmasambhava, recognised the mountain as a protective spirit. The state has declared the base of the mountain Kangchenjunga National Park, which covers an area one-third of Sikkim. ‘The act of scaling this sacred peak is not only a matter of serious concern but also a violation of both the prevailing legal provisions and the deeply held religious beliefs of the people of Sikkim,’ read a letter from Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) to Amit Shah, India’s Minister of Home Affairs and Cooperation.&nbsp; Tamang continued: ‘We further request Your Honour to take up the issue with the Government of Nepal to ensure that no future expeditions are permitted on the sacred mountain, in deference to the deeply held beliefs and cultural values of the people of Sikkim.’ Kangchenjunga was climbed for the first time exactly 70 years ago by a British team who told King Tashi Namgyal, the Choegyal of Sikkim, that they would not set foot on the summit. Since then, there have been about 532 successful climbs of the peaks and 52 have died while trying.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250628060616_5c268e08cf49f36b79ef9b31933fc2d9bf9a6f65414e7ca06dd028bf04e7ccc1.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250628060616_5c268e08cf49f36b79ef9b31933fc2d9bf9a6f65414e7ca06dd028bf04e7ccc1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1782" height="1178" loading="lazy" alt="Kangchenjunga: too sacred to climb NT"> <figcaption>Indigenous communities in Sikkim held purification ceremonies following the Indian expedition to Kangchenjunga. Photo: THE VOICE OF SIKKIM / FACEBOOK</figcaption> </figure>  <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-climbing-season-2025-s4abrxny">This spring climbing season</a> alone, there were 70 climbing permits for foreigners issued for Kangchenjunga by the Nepal government, and made it to the top while one French climber died.&nbsp; One of the expeditions this year was an Indian Army team led by Col Ranveer Jamwal, who has summited the highest peaks on all seven continents, and Mt Everest thrice. Jamwal’s team was on the final leg of a ‘<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/nimas-summits-mt-kangchenjunga-concludes-historic-har-shikhar-tiranga-mission-successfully/articleshow/121341315.cms?from=mdr">Har Shikhar Tiranga</a>’ (The Tricolour on Every Peak) mission to plant the Indian flag at the highest points of each of India’s 28 states. Kanchenjunga was the last peak they had left, and the hardest, but the expedition put five climbers on the summit. What seems to have incensed the Sikkimese is that while it has banned climbing the mountain from its side, it was an Indian military expedition that went to Nepal to climb the mountain. After news broke of the climb in May, the Sikkim Indigenous Lepcha Tribal Association asked people to observe purification ceremonies in temples across the state. Mayalmit Lepcha of the association acknowledged that the Sikkim government was also partly at fault: “I don’t think such an expedition could have gone forward without the state government being informed, so it could have done something to intervene. It shows weakness. What’s done is done, all we can do is carry out these sanctification ceremonies.”&nbsp; In 2000, one year before Sikkim’s ban, the state allowed an Austrian team to attempt Kanchenjunga’s northeast face for a fee of $20,000, on agreement that they would stop 10m before the summit. Despite this, there was outrage over the expedition on the grounds that it violated Indian laws regarding the defiling of religious sites and Sikkim’s rights to maintain its culture after merging with India. The Indian Army expedition was also seen to have circumvented Sikkim’s law and violated religious sensibilities by going through Nepal. While the team may have thought they were respecting Sikkim’s beliefs by finding a way to complete the mission, the people of Sikkim saw it as defilement.&nbsp; The somber mood of the Sikkim people at the ritual contrasts sharply with Jamwal’s sense of accomplishment. “Without a doubt, the most difficult summit of my life,” he told reporters after the climb. “It tested every ounce of our will.”&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250628060616_ccfe079c78dab788d19fe2080ee8a5d5dcb11de4157316f6d94e5964da097157.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250628060616_ccfe079c78dab788d19fe2080ee8a5d5dcb11de4157316f6d94e5964da097157" data-rendition-name="original" width="787" height="377" loading="lazy" alt="Kangchenjunga: too sacred to climb NT"> <figcaption>Prayer flags along the Sikkim-Kangchenjunga trekking route. Photo: TREKKINGININDIA.COM</figcaption> </figure>  The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-nims-purja">controversial Nepali-British mountaineer Nirmal Purja</a> was also on Kangchenjunga this spring the mountain, on a mission to summit all 14 8,000m peaks for a third time. He echoed Jamwal about the tough conditions: “The conditions above camp were extremely tough, with deep snow and challenging terrain—more crevasses than usual.” Nepal’s government has not said anything publicly, but it is unlikely that it will ban climbing on Kangchenjunga, since it is becoming popular with expeditions because of its technical challenges, and overcrowding on Mt Everest. Nepal does have bans in place for some of its mountains out of respect for local beliefs. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/to-open-machapuchre-for-mountaineering-or-not">Mt Machapuchre</a> (6,990m) the imposing pyramid that looms over Pokhara, for example, is seen as an icon of purity by the Gurung people and a symbol of Vishnu by the Hindu communities who live at its base. A strict climbing ban has been in place since 1957, when a British expedition led by Col Jimmy Roberts stopped 45m short of the summit – either because the last bit was too difficult or out of deference to local sentiments.&nbsp; Khumbila that stands above Namche Bazar is only 5,761m high, but like Kanchenjunga is considered the protector deity of the Sherpa people. Gauri Shankar on the Nepal-China border, called Chomo Tseringma by the local community, was off-limits between 1965 and 1979 due to its association with Lord Shiva and Gauri, his consort. Although expeditions are now allowed, there are not too many takers. In Tibet, climbing Mount Kailash is prohibited by the Chinese government because it revered by the Hindus, Buddhists and followers of the Bon faith. Even Mt Everest is regarded as sacred, and its Sherpa name is Chomolungma, Goddess Mother of the Earth.&nbsp; Economically, climbs on Kanchenjunga bring in decent revenue. This climbing season, the 41 permits, at $1,800 each, brought in $73,800. This is somewhat comparable to Makalu, Lhotse, and Annapurna I, but these numbers are dwarfed by the $4 million in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-everest-industry">Everest permits</a>. Revenue from Kanchenjunga climbing permits is something Nepal could potentially forgo if necessary, but the expeditions also provide jobs to hundreds of high altitude guides, porters, base camp support staff and other logistical costs.&nbsp; As the third highest mountain in the world and the tallest in India, there will always be significant motivation to climb it from the Nepal side, especially as climbers are drawn by the technical climbing at high altitude.

Kangchenjunga: too sacred to climb?

The monsoon this year arrived on time, and brought life-giving rain — irrigating paddy terraces, recharging groundwater, reviving springs, and increasing electricity generation.
But Nepal has to deal with either too much water or too little. On a clear April day before the monsoon, the hills of Sindhuli district were parched, and there were wildfires burning out of control. There had been no rain for the past six months.
And that has been the perennial crisis for Nepal’s farmers: that 85% of the rainfall occurs during just four months of the monsoon with little rain for the other eight months.&nbsp;
The water crisis is related to the powerful changes sweeping the mid-hill region of Nepal. With better roads, higher incomes and more exposure, many residents now aspire to have the kind of water supply seen in urban homes. They want hot or cold water at the turn of a tap, showers and flush tank toilets.&nbsp;
To meet this rising demand, many local and provincial governments are investing in large water supply projects often by lifting water from rivers hundreds of metres down the mountain. But these new systems may not be sustainable in the long run.
Many villages in Sindhuli are switching from local springs to piped systems, and even in rural homes, overhead tanks are becoming common.
But this new convenience comes with big challenges. Lifting water from rivers far below requires long pipes, electric pumps, and constant maintenance. These systems are costly, and the streams themselves often shrink to a trickle in the dry months. Big water-lifting schemes look impressive, but there is doubt if they can meet growing water demand.
A much more sustainable solution would be what some communities are doing: restoring old ponds or build new recharge systems. But those villages are exceptions, in most places traditional ponds and wallows are being filled up to be turned into sports fields, or make way for buildings.
Where there are new ponds, they are sometimes in the wrong places or without proper design. Roads and drains are not engineered properly and have increased landslides and erosion. Water management in hilly areas is not just about building things, it is about building in the right way, in the right place.
Traditional water systems were based on nature. They were not perfect, but they used the land wisely. Ponds used to hold rainwater and slowly refill springs which supported families, farms, and forests.&nbsp;
Not everything worked well in the past, but we can learn from traditional water management practices. Across Nepal, some rural municipalities have launched campaigns to store monsoon runoff — either in tanks, ponds or by recharging the aquifers.
But not all efforts have been successful. Some ponds are built without any hydrological study. Some are rushed to meet deadlines rather than real needs.&nbsp;
Now, the Muhan initiative hopes to revive springs to make households more resilient and help farmings. With the financial support of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, research is being done to understand how springs work and how they are affected by changes in rainfall, land use, and development.&nbsp;
Instead of just building pipes and tanks, the project maps the entire springshed so we can understand the root cause of water shortage. In Sindhuli, the problem is not the amount of rain, but the loss of natural systems that store it and the social systems that manage water.&nbsp;
Nepal’s towns and villages now face a major challenge: how to manage water all year round as demand rises with people’s living standards. Depending only on river-lift systems is not a sustainable solution.&nbsp;
We need a mix of approaches that help store water from the rainy season to make it available for the rest of the year, whether by directly harvesting rainwater, restoring ponds, managing springsheds, or smart management of demand.
Rural Nepal is also seeing dramatic depopulation. Much of the outmigration can be stemmed if there is easier water supply for agriculture and household use. Across the mid hills, villages are emptying because springs are going dry. Government policy needs to catch up with the reality on the ground, and support solutions that work for people and nature. Every water supply plan should include recharge structures. Every road or building project should consider water flow and erosion. Local governments need more than budgets: they need training, tools, and data.
Ngamindra Dahal is with the Nepal Water Conservation Foundation, Kathmandu. Hemant Ojha collaborated in this piece and is associated with the Australian National University.

Water for Life

The debate about who is less accountable to the public: politicians or bureaucrats is as old as Nepal’s democracy itself.
Some blame politicians for being beholden to the businessmen who finance their electoral campaigns, and are forced to return the favour with contracts and kickbacks when in power.&nbsp;
Others say it is civil servants who are neither civil nor servants, and know the inner workings of the system to exploit loopholes – they then teach ministers, MPs, mayors, or ward chairs which juicy projects can be squeezed. And everyone gets their share.
In reality, it is probably not a case of either, or. Both have their hands deep in the honey pot. Corruption is now such a given that yet another exposé in the mainstream press, like the latest visit-visa scam, does not raise eyebrows anymore.
We may have to edit Lord Acton’s famous quote to say that in Nepal we do not even need absolute power to corrupt absolutely. The ruling cartel has divvied up the spoils, so that no one ever faces charges. The three parties all know about the skeletons rattling in each other’s closets, and they cancel each other out.
Politicians and bureaucrats get all the blame for taking bribes, but what of the givers of bribes? In this crony capitalism, businesses invariably need political patrons in an elaborate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-only-growth-industry-private-sector-corruption" target="_blank">national network of give-and-take</a>.
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-only-growth-industry-private-sector-corruption" target="_blank">Politicians and businesses work hand-in-glove</a> so that conflict of interest in contracts, insider trading, cartelling, and non-performing assets of banks become the norm. Our survey after the 2017 local election showed that out of the 753 newly-elected local government chairs, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/elected-contractors" target="_blank">nearly 300 were contractors</a> involved in sand-mining, quarrying, or transportation syndicates.
Nepal’s tycoons have discovered that instead of donating to election war chests of politicians, it is a much surer return on investment to spend the money to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-business-of-politics-in-nepal" target="_blank">become legislators and politicians themselves</a>.
In democracies, there are checks and balances to control corruption when it becomes endemic. The Nepal Police and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are supposed to do the detective work without political interference. The courts are required to be independent in dispensing justice and punishing crooks.
But the less said about the judiciary the better. A writ petition in the Supreme Court last week accused our sister magazine <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/" target="_blank">HimalKhabar</a> of contempt of court for two stories: one about how high courts have been overturning a majority of verdicts of district courts in cases of rape, and another about the Biratnagar High Court clearing a self-proclaimed holy man, Krishna Bahadur Giri, of rape despite police presenting physical evidence.
The doctrine of the separation of powers stipulates that it is when the other three pillars in a democracy are compromised that the role of the free press becomes even more vital. The world over, as soon as populist autocrats are elected to the executive, their first order of business is to co-opt the legislature and the judiciary. Then they buy off, intimidate, or neutralise the media with Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP).
Nepal’s officialdom seems to be taking midnight Zoom lessons from other despots on how to gag the media. Last month, popular talk show host Dil Bhushan Pathak was served an arrest warrant by the Kathmandu District Court for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CntsnTrtG8" target="_blank">a YouTube explainer</a> about the alleged involvement of the son of Foreign Minister Arzu Deuba Rana in a reported purchase of Kathmandu’s Hilton Hotel.
The Lalitpur District Court ruled that Pathak could not be arrested without fair trial, but this week the Kathmandu District Court filed another case against the journalist based on a complaint by the Cyber Bureau, and put him on a fugitive list.&nbsp;
Without going into the veracity of Pathak’s explainer, it is deeply problematic that the Electronic Transaction Act has been invoked – proof that politicians are getting the courts and investigating agencies to make an example of a high profile journalist.&nbsp;
The intention is to silence media investigations into the fake refugee scandal in which the main partner in the ruling coalition is implicated, and in which one of its former home ministers was jailed last year.
The Kathmandu High Court has been mysteriously active in targeting journalists these days. <a href="https://bizmandu.com/" target="_blank">Bizmandu</a> and <a href="https://nepalkhabar.com/" target="_blank">Nepalkhabar</a> were served a notice last month <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/no-freedom-after-expression-y4inku06" target="_blank">to withdraw a story they did</a> on the Chair of the <a href="https://www.sebon.gov.np/" target="_blank">Security and Exchange Board of Nepal (SEBON</a>) Santosh Narayan Shrestha allegedly demanding kickbacks from hydropower investors.&nbsp;
Incredibly, the court even asked the two portals not to report on the subject anymore – a ruling so absurd that the Patan High Court overturned it a week later.&nbsp;
The allegations against Shrestha were made in a public meeting of the <a href="https://www.ippan.org.np/members/3060/bungal-hydro-ltd" target="_blank">Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN)</a>, and MPs demanded a <a href="https://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/news/parliament-demands-probe-into-sebon-chairman-over-alleged-commission-demand-40-32.html" target="_blank">Parliament inquiry</a> into the regulator. <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/144523/santosh-narayan-shrestha" target="_blank">HimalKhabar</a> reported this week that while Shrestha was reportedly demanding commissions from private investors for IPOs, he cleared primary share sales in Bajhang’s 10.75MW <a href="https://www.ippan.org.np/members/3060/bungal-hydro-ltd" target="_blank">Bungal Hydro</a> in which his family members have investments, company records show.
And then just on Monday, bureaucrats hoodwinked MPs by deleting references in a bill requiring a two-year ‘cooling off’ period under which retiring civil servants could be barred from holding constitutional positions for two years.
The contest for who is more corrupt: bureauacrats, politicians, or the private sector is on.
Kunda Dixit

SLAPPing Democracy

<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-last-of-the-kusunda">The Kusunda</a> are among the last remaining hunter-gatherer communities left in Nepal, and it has only one fluent speaker left of a language that is not related to any other language group in South Asia.&nbsp; The Kusunda call themselves the King of the Forests ((गेम्येहाक़ in Kusunda,वन राजा in Nepali) and used to have a nomadic lifestyle till recently. But decades of exclusion from mainstream society and modernity have forced the Kusunda to assimilate. &nbsp; Today, most Kusunda live across Nepal’s mid-hills and western plains, choosing to identify themselves as Thakuri and adopting names like Sen, Shahi, and Khan to avoid ostracisation. Over time, inter-ethnic marriages between the Kusunda and other communities became increasingly common.&nbsp; However, the assimilation with other communities also meant that almost no one from the Kusunda community can speak their mother tongue – considered by linguists to be a ‘language isolate’ not related to any other language group in the world, and lacking set rules of grammar that are foundational to other languages. There are no words for ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ in Kusunda, nor are there words to signify direction. There are 23 languages with less than 1,000 speakers listed in Nepal's 2021 census, with Kusunda being the language with the least number of speakers. The number of people who identified as Kusunda has decreased with each subsequent census. Only 253 individuals identified themselves as Kusunda in the last National Census of 2021, down from 273 in 2011.&nbsp; <div class="embed-block"><iframe src="https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/raithane-bhakha/embed/episodes/Kusundas---the-last-of-the-forest-kings-e23ge6p/a-a9peei1" height="102px" width="400px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></div> The government’s decision to provide a social security stipend to the community for the past few years has prompted many from the Kusunda community to reclaim their identity and in the process, explore their culture and language. Kamala Sen Kusunda, who lives in Dang, is the only fluent native Kusunda speaker alive, although there are now other Kusunda and non-Kusunda people learning how to speak the language. By the time Kamala Sen Kusunda was born in 1975, her family had settled in a village in Rolpa. Although she did not experience the nomadic life of her forebears, she still roamed the forests freely as a child and many of the values and socio-cultural practices of her community were instilled in her and her siblings.&nbsp; This meant that Kamala grew up speaking Kusunda with her family. But by then, the Kusunda had increasingly begun to interact with people beyond their community, and inter-ethnic marriages had become a norm.&nbsp; Kamala herself married at 18 to a 52-year-old man from the Chhetri community. She would go on to have four children, but they were brought up with her husband’s culture and community rather than her own, and teaching them her mother tongue seemed impractical.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250628030648_afaa298bf8ea3b7086e2ed086b11eab463ef2b20a82a4aad74df3dd2e922a4c3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250628030648_afaa298bf8ea3b7086e2ed086b11eab463ef2b20a82a4aad74df3dd2e922a4c3" data-rendition-name="original" width="855" height="641" loading="lazy" alt="Kusunda NT"> <figcaption>Gyani Maiya Kusunda with Kusunda youth in 2015.</figcaption> </figure>  “If I had spoken my language to them when they were children, they would have learned,” she tells us ruefully. “But they were growing up in a different community, so I never pushed, and they never expressed interest.” At the time, she had other things to worry about, such as earning a livelihood and sustaining her family. To find work, Kamala and her family moved to Shimla in India, where she worked at an apple orchard for six years.&nbsp; Over the next years, Kamala and her family moved back and forth between India and Nepal for work, and Kamala was not actively conversing in the language of her people or being able to connect with members of her community now scattered across Nepal.&nbsp; Had she not forgotten her language after all those years? “How could I forget the language of my ancestors?” she replies. “Not speaking it did not mean that it ceased to be a part of me.”&nbsp; Kamala had been working at a brick kiln in Thimi seven years ago when the National Language Commission tracked her down, offered her a paid position as a Kusunda language consultant and source person for basic language training in Dang.&nbsp; It was there that Kamala met her cousin Gyani Maiya Sen Kusunda, the only other person able to speak Kusunda fluently, who had been working with the Commission to conserve Kusunda language and culture. It was also where Kamala met language researcher and lexicographer Uday Raj Ale. Ale had been in the middle of his research into the Tharu language and community 15 years ago when he met Gyani Maiya Kusunda’s son, who told him that his mother was one of the few people who spoke Kusunda, but that no one had shown an interest in studying and preserving the language and culture. Ale met Gyani Maiya, spending time with her learning and researching Kusunda. By 2017, Ale had collected enough words to put together a Kusunda dictionary. The Kusunda vocabulary currently comprises 2,000 words. His research into the Kusunda language and culture has taken him to every known Kusunda household in Nepal. Although the census puts the number of Kusunda at 253, Ale reckons there are only 158.&nbsp; “Kusunda language is endangered due to its lack of use in everyday life, literature, and religious and socio-cultural practices, as well as the prevalence of inter-ethnic marriages,” explains Ale. In 2019 the Language Commission began its language transfer programs for youth from indigenous communities. Since then, the Commission has completed multiple phases of Kusunda language classes in Dang facilitated by Uday Raj Ale. The classes have 20 students, not just from the Kusunda community, but also interested non-native students.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250626120632_c6c378bc00af450f2b7f0cf17af1c3b2b6f7b7226927c458c3e01ec389869d33.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250626120632_c6c378bc00af450f2b7f0cf17af1c3b2b6f7b7226927c458c3e01ec389869d33" data-rendition-name="original" width="1485" height="1535" loading="lazy" alt="Kusunda NT"> <figcaption>Students learning Kusunda with instructor Uday Raj Ale (second row, left)</figcaption> </figure>  Khamba Rokaya, who worked as a caretaker for young Kusunda children in Dang, became interested in learning the language as she sat in with the children during their lessons, and for the last few years has been among the few non-native Kusunda language learners in Dang. “I am not from the Kusunda community, but now that I have learned the language, I hope to do my part to carry on the work and share my knowledge with as many people as possible,” she says. “One way to ensure that we preserve this language is to extend its speaker base, both within the Kusunda and non-native communities.” Ale and Kamala have continued to work together since Gyani Maya’s passing in 2020, expanding the Kusunda vocabulary and creating appropriate curricula to fit the needs of the students as their knowledge of Kusunda expands.&nbsp; But without any documentation of Kusunda history, the community’s traditions, stories, values and language were at risk of being lost to time. “The loss of an ethnicity, language or culture in a country is akin to losing a vital organ, and a unique perspective of looking at the world,” says Ale. Which is why Archive Nepal in collaboration with the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund and the UK’s Department of Culture, Media, and Sport in February launched a book of creative writings in the Kusunda language titled पिन्डा (meaning ‘The First’ in Kusunda): A Compilation of Kusunda Literature. The book is a collection of informative essays about the Kusunda language and culture, short stories that explore themes from nomadic life to universal Nepali experiences of poverty and migration, letters to loved ones, as well as conversational pieces by five Kusunda students ranging from ages 16 to 30. The works in the Kusunda language are also translated into Nepali and English.&nbsp; “Language is an important part of ethnic identity, and our indigenous languages cannot evolve or be conserved unless they are spoken or taught,” said Ale during the launch of the book earlier this year. “But most importantly, language exists as long as there exists literature in that language.” Kamala was in Kathmandu for the launch of the book, and smiled proudly as she looked at the young writers who had contributed to the collection. She said: “I’m glad the young people have chosen to learn and preserve Kusunda. Otherwise, our language would have died with me.” &nbsp;

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