Colonialism, migration, modernity and the Nepali language as the lingua franca of Sikkim and the Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts (North Bengal Hills) have been the predominant factors accounting for the disappearance of the Lepcha language. This has led the majority of the Lepcha tribe population, who are considered to be the first inhabitants of the Sikkim and North Bengal Hills, to be alienated from their mother tongue. The UNESCO, as per its 2020 report of the List of Endangered Languages of India, has designated this ancient Himalayan language as “definitely endangered” among the 197 endangered languages. The past five centuries have witnessed the hegemony of the Tibetans, the British and the Gorkhas on the Lepchas of Sikkim and North Bengal Hills resulting in their cultural and linguistic impoverishment. The rapid erosion of the Lepcha language, which is ‘unscheduled’ on account of its absence in the Indian Constitution’s Eighth Schedule, was taken into cognizance by a few Kalimpong Lepchas and their efforts to address this cultural aberration resulted in the creation of the Rongring Lepcha Culture and Welfare Society (RLCWS). To empower the Lepcha community by protecting and reinvigorating their language, the RLCWS developed a digital platform called the Rongring Global Lepcha Language Online Course that enables the remote virtual learning of the Lepcha language. This unique initiative saw resounding success where more than 250 students from 13 countries enrolled and learnt the Lepcha language since 2020. It also facilitated the global exposure of the Lepcha language and enabled the RLCWS to collaborate with Tokyo University and Toronto University in translation and phonetic documentation projects. This paper focuses on this independent community mobilization initiated by the organic intellectuals of the Lepcha community to conserve and propagate the intangible Lepcha language while reconciling with cultural estrangement by appropriating extensive technology and innovation.
