- There's a big revival of interest in Sanskrit, especially among the urban young
- The thousands enrolling for Sanskrit classes this year include young techies, MBAs, civil servants, students of history and philosophy, as well as those interested in ayurveda or yoga
- They are attracted by Sanskrit's highly logical grammatical structure; the access it gives them to classics and texts on ayurveda, yoga; and the guidance on ethics, leadership and strategy in texts like the Bhagavad Gita and the Arthashastra;
- The fact that Sanskrit is a 'scoring subject' in CBSE, UPSC exams has also fuelled interest
***
Back at the Delhi Samvadshala, Kuliyal readily translates Gabbar Singh's "kitne aadmi the" into Sanskrit, with a booming "kati gana asa". Just as quickly, he switches to a meek "sardara, do janau staha" just to emphasise that one can have fun in Sanskrit too. On the net, there is a Sanskrit learning site, translating popular Shahrukh Khan film songs like "Tum paas aye, aur muskuraye" into Sanskrit: "Twam samipamagatam, ani mandsmitam". Though Sanskrit pandits may not necessarily approve of this frivolous use of what is called Devbhasha, the teachers with Samskritam Bharati are indulgent because it helps draw young people into their fold. Teachers like Pune-based Manjushri Rahalkar, 35, are encouraging youngsters not to judge Sanskrit by the classes they used to hate in school. S. Deopujari, who is in charge of Samskritam Bharati projects all over India, is simplifying grammar to make speaking easier for beginners. Homemaker and Sanskrit enthusiast Padmavati, an Andhra native living in Delhi, teaches 8-13-year-olds to speak Sanskrit via the medium of games and plays at Ganesh Mandir in Delhi's Sarojini Nagar.
In the 2001 census, a mere 48,400 people have listed Sanskrit as their mother tongue. But by the time the next census is completed, the numbers may well have doubled or trebled, to include hip young urban professionals who think in English, feed on KFC fried chicken and compare the revival of Sanskrit in India to that of Hebrew in Israel. Easy to understand why they are fascinated with this ancient language that promises to take them back to their roots and shastras. Amen to that. Or, maybe the word to use here would be Tathastu!
