PRITAM KUNWAR: THE UNSUNG HERO OF POKHARA

Pritam Kunwar has shown his commitment to empowering girls by coaching them martial art free of cost. 

 Empowering the girls with martial art

By LB THAPA

Are our daughters safe? Definitely, its answer is a big ‘NO’. Unfortunately, our daughters are not safe and secure. Ask this question with the parents who have grown-up daughters at home. How insecure those parents feel about their daughters. 

Girls are misbehaved, teased, and manhandled at homes, workplaces, and anywhere outside. In the worst-case scenario, they are raped and beaten to death. The perpetrators are not always arrested and if the rapists and murders belong to the family of high-ranking politicians, they will never be caught. Nirmala Panta case is an example. 

In a situation like this when our daughters are extremely vulnerable there is a man in Pokhara who has taken the responsibility of equipping our daughters with combat skills of par excellence. Meet the man; he is none other than Pritam Kunwar. 

“I am also the father of two lovely daughters and I can understand the apprehension of many parents who have grownup daughters at homes. Now, these parents need not worry about the safety and security of their daughters anymore. Now, this is my responsibility to get our daughters equipped with the technique of self-defense, and that I will do by coaching them martial art at my level best”, assured Pritam Kunwar. 

Pritam Kunwar, a 25-year-old young man, is a local resident of Pokhara. His ancestors lived by Fewa Lake and spent their lives as boatmen. His father is still a boatman and even Pritam Kunwar has not left his ancestral profession of boating. Boating has been a steady source of income for him.   

“I do not belong to a well-to-do family. My parents especially my father had spent most of his life sailing the boat onto the tranquil waters of Fewa Lake. I did always help my father in boating and assisted the family financially. Even today every day I regularly do boating for about six hours and make a living”, added Kunwar. 

Pritam Kunwar holds a Taekwondo Black Belt 4^th Dan. He has been coaching martial art to young students for the last one and half decades. He has been known in the locality as one of the most dedicated martial art gurus who is equipped with remarkable coaching skills and outstanding agility. 

“If you ask me what I have earned over the years by coaching martial art then definitely I would say it is the trust of my students and their parents. We can easily earn money that is not a big deal, but not the trust of the people, this is what I have earned, and I am proud of it”, boasted Kunwar. 

As soon as Pritam Kunwar started coaching martial art, he shifted his priority from coaching boys to girls. He realized that girls are being targeted in our society and they fall prey to many unscrupulous people. 

“Pick up any newspapers or watch the news on TVs everywhere we get the news of how girls are being victimized, beaten, and raped. I’m really disturbed by such news. Then one day I decided to give free coaching of martial art to girls. I wanted to make them capable to defend themselves. To do all this I began meeting with people and asked them why they should send their daughters to learn a martial art. It did not take much time to convince them and they happily agreed to send their daughters to learn martial art with me”, informed Pritam Kunwar. 

To date, Pritam Kunwar has coached over 5000 girls and uncountable numbers of boys. Amazing numbers, isn’t it? Well, his only purpose in coaching martial art to girls is to empower them with the best fighting skill of Taekwondo. 

“I want to teach them the best martial art skill that I have learned over the years. My only aim is to transform every girl into a confident fighter who can defend themselves successfully. I want to confirm that no one should dare to intimidate a girl who is a consummate martial artist. In the meantime, I’m very glad to see that those girls who have completed the Taekwondo course at my Dojang are capable of subduing any miscreants”, declared Taekwondo Guru Pritam Kunwar. 

In fact, Pritam Kunwar himself is not from a well-to-do family. He coaches martial art to girls free of cost. He charges them not a single penny at all. Sometimes he provides them Taekwondo uniforms free. Such generosity of Pritam Guru has definitely attracted many girls in general and parents in particular.   

What is even more interesting about Kunwar is he does not have a salary-based job. Every day he goes sailing for boating, taking devotees to the temple, and this way he makes a meager sum of money. This is the only paltry sum of income to manage his household expenditures. 

“At present, there are many girls who are receiving martial art training from me and they are from poor families. They have an intense desire to learn martial art but their poor financial condition does not allow them to join any Dojang. These girls do not get free martial art coaching in Pokhara. If I don’t coach them for free then definitely they will be deprived of learning martial art…and that I don’t like. Today, from the platform of this blog, I hereby declare that anyone who wants to learn martial art but simply can’t because they can’t afford then please come to me. I will coach you free of cost. I will also provide you uniform if you can’t afford one”, promised Kunwar, the martial art Guru. 

There is yet another example of Pritam Kunwar’s generosity. During the covid-19 lockdown period, he managed to distribute rice and pulses to his martial art students who had been going through a tough time. 

“When I came to know that some of my martial art students’ families were facing a difficult time as they did not have enough to eat during the lockdown period. This news made me very sad then I managed some rice and pulses, went to the houses of my martial art students, and gave them the ration. That was little help that I could do from my side”, said Kunwar with an immense degree of satisfaction. 

There are very few people who know that Pritam Kunwar is a one-man army when it comes to cleaning Fewa Lake. Almost every day he takes his own wooden boat and collects weeds and hyacinths from Fewa Lake. 

“Many organizations have been established in the name of cleaning Fewa Lake. But we can see Fewa Lake is never cleaned. These organizations have made Fewa Lake a milking cow. Every year they pocket a large sum of money in the name of cleaning Fewa Lake. Then wait for next year to get the money to clean Fewa Lake again. This goes on and on every year---this is the real story of these organizations. In reality, these organizations do not want to clean Fewa Lake permanently. If Fewa Lake is permanently cleaned then these organizations will not get any funds to pocket every year. However, I have not been motivated by any vested interest. Every day I clean Fewa Lake, thinking as if it is my duty to keep Fewa Lake neat and clean and I will do it as long as I’m alive”, promised Kunwar. 

The commitment Pritam Kunwar has shown by providing free martial art coaching to girls and cleaning Fewa Lake must be commended by one and all. He is doing all these benevolent activities without any expectation. Moreover, at a time when humanity is fast eroding and people show no sympathy for their fellow beings, a person like Pritam Kunwar has stood tall as an epitome of hard work and selfless service. 

LB Thapa is a Pokhara-based freelance writer and author.

LEGAL WARNING

All rights reserved. No articles and photos published in this blog can be reproduced without the prior written permission of the author. Legal action will be taken immediately if any articles or photos are reproduced without the author’s knowledge. However, articles or photos can only be reproduced by duly mentioning the author’s name and the blog's name (read2bhappy.blogspot.com). The author must be informed by sending an email. All articles and the photos published in this blog are the copyright property of LB THAPA.