Have you ignored your mother tongue in the race to learn English? Want to go back to your tribal roots?
For beginners, the address will be Satya Bharti, second floor, on Purulia Road in Ranchi. Reach sharp at 4pm any Sunday and you will find two seasoned teachers busy taking Kurukh and Mundari language classes.
The 90-minute elementary classes on Kurukh and Mundari are conducted by the School of Music, Art and Training (SMART) every Sunday from 4pm. The lessons started three months ago.
As of now, there are 10 students - four in Kurukh class and six in Mundari.
According to co-founder of SMART Anup Binay Tigga, Kurukh is taught by Prof. Edward Kujur (67), a retired teacher of JN College, Dhurwa, and Mundari by social activist Remis Kandulna (60).
"Both Kujur and Kandulna, once recognised faces in our city, were spending their lives in solitude without any financial support when we approached them. We requested them to take the classes, which will help them financially as well as benefit the youths," said Tigga.
He added they hadn't yet planned the course tenure.
"As we have just started, we are working on the course plan. The present batch has registered themselves by paying Rs 800. We are planning to conduct four-month courses in both the languages and take exams after that. Those who will clear the exam will be provided certificates. We are also planning to start courses in other tribal languages like Ho, Santhali and Kharia in near future," said the co-founder.
On the motivation behind the unique move, he said it was a tough decision to start classes in tribal languages.
"Coaching in tribal languages is a new concept in the city as most students enrol themselves in spoken English classes. But what about their mother tongues, which are getting lost as family members too have stopped conversing in tribal languages? Our future generations in the tribal community are losing its identity as they are being brought up in the city. We need to connect them with their roots. Hence, we started the classes," said Tigga.
As far as the handful of students are concerned, he is confident that the number would rise in the next few months as they were promoting their venture through word of mouth and by distributing pamphlets in prominent public places. "Besides, JPSC exams are going to start soon and many students opt for tribal languages. Hence, we are expecting more students," Tigga added.
Among the 10 present students, two non-tribals are learning Mundari. Rakesh Singh, an anthropology (honours) student of Ranchi University, and Ashutosh Kumar, who is pursuing BCom (honours) from Doranda College, will appear for JPSC exams.
"We have decided to opt for Mundari as optional language, for which we needed to start from scratch. Being residents of a tribal-dominated land, we are proud of learning this language," said Ashutosh.
Languages apart, if you are interested in learning folk instruments like mandar, dhol, sarangi etc, SMART is the best option.
