A New Song of the Road

As dawn breaks out in the two villages of Mattur and Hosahalli, 10 km from Shimoga, theyoung greet the old with ‘suprabhatam’.

This rustic idyll, complete with dense arecanut plantations, is the laboratory for anexperiment that aims to popularise Sanskrit as the language of the masses, not oneconfined to holy precincts, or the homes of sadhus and sants. Over the last two decades,about 30 per cent of the 3,000-odd people at Mattur and a smaller number at Hosahalli areworking to turn their villages into “Sanskrit grams”. Signboards, slogans inSanskrit, a smattering of the language as two men pass each other and a school (at Mattur)where children are taught the language, are conspicuous signs that these twinvillages—though separated by the Tunga—are a milestone of sorts. In the school,children of all communities learn this language as well as other subjects (up to Class10).

This is affirmed by children like Rumana Anjum and Abdul Razak, students of class 9.They read Sanskrit fluently, and Anjum also tells you: “Aham shikshikabhavami” (I want to become a teacher).

Of the two villages, Mattur is larger, has a population of 3,000, with facilities likea bank, post office, a primary health centre, a telephone exchange, even a dish antenna tobring all television channels to households here. But people are candid about the factthat it has not achieved 100 per cent literacy. Says Mattur post master M.R. Ganapathi:“You must report about our sanskriti (culture). Don’t misrepresentfacts by writing that even a barber here speaks Sanskrit. It’s an experiment to makeit a Sanskrit grama (village). It’s impossible to make everyone speak thelanguage.”

Ashwathnarayana Avdhani, 50, president of Shruthi Shankara Sanskrit Prathisthana, agurukul that runs a six-year course in the language, Vedas and shastras in Mattur:“Beyond the language, it’s the meaning of dharma shastras and Puranas thatpeople look for. So, it’s not merely to earn a livelihood that one learns thelanguage.

His nephew Keshav Avdhani, 37, says: “Everything here (at the gurukul) is learntthrough chanting, followed by a detailed explanation. It’s wrong to classify Sanskritas a language solely meant for pujas or one that’s the monopoly of a singlecommunity. It has unique traits and gives one the ability to think deeply.”

At Hosahalli, on the other side of the Tunga, Venkatachala Avdhani, 72, teaches Vedasand Sanskrit at Gayatri Pathashala. There are 10 boys now in the age group of 16-22 yearswho are learning Sanskrit and the Vedas, but none admit that their efforts will bear nofruit as learning the ancient language will not fetch them decent employment. Says16-year-old T. Sridhar, who has come here from an Andhra Pradesh village: “I want tostudies the shastras. When I do that, I’ll be respected and earn something.”

Although ‘Samskrita Bharati’—the movement that set out to popularise thelanguage—has made some headway in these two villages, it has failed to replicate theresults in other areas. Its efforts to expand into new areas through an array ofcourses—from 10-day ‘speak Sanskrit courses’ and books with a collection of1,000 common sentences to training teachers and volunteers, launching books, cassettes,videos, CDs and correspondence courses—have not helped achieve significant numbers. Offices have been set up in the US and the UK to ensure a global spread. But the progressseems inadequate for an effort that took off two decades ago.