[lg policy] Kids learj Sanskrit

[Harold Schiffman]

Hundreds of kids learn Sanskrit at RSVP’s camp for two years

Little Manasa is just nine years years old, but can strike up a
conversation in fluent Sanskrit. Same is the case with six-year-old Murali
who eloquently spoke at a skit, much to the amusement of his semi-literate
parents.

Manasa and Murali are not sporadic cases, as there are 1,500 such children
in Tirupati within the age group of 5-15 years, who are trained by the
Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha through its ‘Abhimanyu Sanskrit Bala Kendra’.

The second edition of the year-long camp came to a grand finish at the
sprawling campus on Wednesday, where 1,009 boys and girls trained at 38
camps were declared as qualified in speaking Sanskrit. The number is a
giant leap compared to the 542 children who passed from 18 centres last
year.
‘Avowed policy’

The camps by the Vidyapeetha are part of its avowed policy to take the
language out of the campus and get ‘God’s own language’ adopted as the
modern lingua franca. Undergraduate and postgraduate students shouldered
the responsibility of conducting the camps, not only at the university, but
also in eight schools and some off-campus localities like Tiruchanur,
Kapila Theertham and Perur in the city, thus developing a vibrant local
ecosystem.

The closing ceremony was marked by a colourful procession, wherein the
children passing out on Wednesday turned out in colourful attire, while
some donned the guise of mythological Indian characters. Apart from
learning a new language, speaking Sanskrit would help cultivate a love for
one’s mother tongue, said Vice-Chancellor V. Muralidhara Sharma.
Many benefits

“At the individual level, conversing in Sanskrit helps the tongue handle
tougher words and improves pronunciation, while memorising and reciting
verses strengthens one’s neurological system. At the macro level, study of
the Sanskrit texts inculcates values and ethics, helping us evolve into
better citizens”, Prof. Sharma added.

TTD’s Sri Venkateswara Employees Training Academy (SVETA) Director N.
Muktheswara Rao called Sanskrit as elevating one’s ‘Sanskriti’ (culture).

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 Harold F. Schiffman

Professor Emeritus of
 Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
Dept. of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

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