Sanskrit fights to find its feet

When Vaibhav M advanced to class 11, he was keen to pick a language that would fetch him high marks.

The Centre’s push for Sanskrit has few takers. Schools and colleges in the city struggle to find qualified teachers, and a large section of students aren’t enthusiastic about keeping the language alive, finds Dia Rekhi

CHENNAI: When Vaibhav M advanced to class 11, he was keen to pick a language that would fetch him high marks. He decided to switch from studying Hindi to learning Sanskrit. But little did he know that this choice would turn into a nightmare.“Everyone told me that it is a scoring subject and that lured me to take it up. I was told that it is a simple subject, so I didn’t think twice before taking it up. What I was not prepared for was that the teacher would just ask us to mug up the shlokas without providing any explanation. It has been a year since I have been learning Sanskrit and the only reason I can somewhat read the language is that I learned Hindi for eight years prior to this. What should have been an easy subject is now taking a toll on me because I had to sign up for a tuition class to help me understand what I am learning,” he says.

No qualified experts

Schools in the city are struggling to find qualified Sanskrit teachers. “As children feel they can score high marks in Sanskrit, it is always a coveted subject,” says the principal of a private school on the condition of anonymity. “What we, as an establishment, are facing is the lack of qualified language teachers, especially for Sanskrit. While we do have a very good Sanskrit teacher, it took us years to find him. The previous teacher looked like she needed some classes herself. In the bargain, it is the students who suffer.”

TP Radhakrishnan, principal of the Madras Sanksrit College, concedes that they are finding it hard to provide schools, not only in Chennai, but all over Tamil Nadu, with qualified teachers. “We are facing a shortage of qualified teachers who we can send to teach in schools and colleges,” he says. “The scope for Sanskrit is vast today. People must realise that. We have seen the demand for our courses surge over the last few years. This is mainly because people realise that Sanskrit is the mother of all languages and lays the foundation for understanding the script of various other languages. While we do not have too many takers from Tamil Nadu for the BA and MA courses, our evening courses like spoken Sanskrit and the diploma courses are popular with city residents.”

Gateway to knowledge

Radhakrishnan said that those who take up the language can look at it as a gateway to understanding a number of other texts in subjects like astronomy, astrology, ancient medicine, bhakti and much more. “There is no subject that doesn’t have Sanskrit references,” he says. “There is tremendous scope in teaching the language as the demand is only set to increase with more people wanting to know about our ancient scriptures. Conducting religious discourses and readings from the texts is yet another lucrative opportunity. Also, translation is emerging as a great way for people with knowledge of the language to earn as well. Even yoga and astrology require an understanding of Sanskrit. Today, many are curious to know about temples and their history even on the digital space. So, someone with an understanding of Sanskrit will always be sought after.”

Few takers

However, when it comes to studying Sanskrit even at the collegiate level, students rarely pick the subject because they don’t have a desire to learn it, teachers say. “The attitude is laidback when it comes to learning languages,” says a Sanskrit professor at a well-known city college. “Students consider all languages to be a free period — an escape from their regular coursework almost. That attitude needs to change. In my Sanskrit classes too, I see that most of the students just picked the class for the sake of it. There is no real enthusiasm to dig deep and understand. The motivation is lacking and that reflects in everything — their exams to their assignments. I feel a lot of it has to do with the demonising of Sanskrit as a language for the privileged. Somewhere amid the politics and the powers that be, a lovely language has lost its rightful place. Today, it is a language that can open up a sea of opportunities for anyone who is curious and can appreciate the beauty of language.

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