I still remember those Sanskrit classes in school . I think they were one of the most refreshing and energising classes. The nice little stories with excellent morals and those Vidur Neetis and Chanakya Neetis were simply superb . But then one thing that always troubled us during the exam time was to by heart those grammers with 'Streeling' ,'Puling' and 'Napunsakling'. It was one of the funniest things as well with really weird phonetics like 'hey rama..hey ramo, hey rama' etc etc. Haha
Though Sanskrit is the base for all Indian languages, it did not pick up for the mainsteam usage and ended up in India only as a 'cool' third language where marks can be scored easily.
Well, but the Indians in US think differently. A group of Sanskrit lovers from the University of Maryland have launched a Sanskrit fan club called UMD Sanskritam. And they are trying to encourage people from learning and using Sanskrit by adding lot of fun to the learning process. They are using the popular Bollywood a lot for this. They recently did a small play where they enacted a scene from Sholay (the Gabbar Singh scene) with all the dialogues in Sanskrit:). They also transalated the song 'Aati Kya Khanadala' in Sanskrit and all these was very well enjoyed and appreciated by Audience. Some of the videos can be found here
Naresh Cuntoor, member of UMD-Sanskritam says, “Our aim is to promote this kind of learning where you don’t emphasize grammar but the conversational aspect of Sanskrit.”.
So learn Sanskrit but without 'Ramaha, Ramo , Rama' ;)
They have launched their new website www.speaksanskrit.org which now has around 600 memebers.
So may be it's time we start speaking sanskrit.
'Kathamapi Kim Bhashye twam bhaashitaha'? LOL
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Sanskrit Speaking camps are happening in India too - I have attended such a camp organized by Samskrita Bharati, Bangalore. The method they follow is pretty good - The teacher will NOT speak in any local language / English.
He/She will start with "mama nama abc. bhavataha/bhavatyaaha nama kim ?" with gestures. Like a child first learns its mother tongue (because it does not know any other language to 'explain') - I enjoyed it very much....
http://www.samskrita-bharati.org/
It seems Samskrita Bharati has 'converted' everyone in a village called Mathur in Karnataka to Sanskrit speakers !
My friends who visited the village said it is amazing - everybody speaks in Sanskrit !!
shubham bhUyAt !
In order to provide online Sanskrit learning and speech training, the Uttar Pradesh Sanskrit Sansthan has started one-hour free classes daily. As many as 47 classes, of one hour each, are being conducted daily for the people who want to learn Sanskrit through virtual medium.
This has evoked an overwhelming response and the youth are registering themselves for online classes in large numbers.
According to Vachaspati Mishra, the chairman of the UP Sanskrit Sansthan, "There are so many people who want to learn the Sanskrit language, especially professionals, doctors, engineers, and businessmen.
"This facility has come as a boon for such people who do not get time to learn, read and speak Sanskrit. Those who are interested in learning Sanskrit can register themselves in the virtual class through a missed call alert on mobile phone number 952234003."
"The Uttar Pradesh government is constantly trying to inculcate love for Sanskrit and give opportunities to those who want to learn the language for which the Sanskrit Sansthan is playing a big role," he said.
For registration, candidates are required to fill in a google form and provide information about their occupation, job and education.
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