BENGALURU : Kimbho! Tava naamadheyam kim? (Hello, how are you? What is your name?)” You should not be surprised if you hear conversations in Sanskrit on Sunday mornings, in picturesque Cubbon Park in Bengaluru. You are most likely listening to members of the ‘Sanskrit Weekend’ group.
The ‘Sanskrit Weekend’ initiative was launched by Sthaayi.in at Cubbon Park two months ago. Since then, it has gone viral on social media. A number of people, including children and senior citizens interested in conversing in Sanskrit, have been flocking to Cubbon Park at 7am on Sundays, to learn this classical language, albeit in its simple form.
Sthaayi.in, founded in 2020-21, is dedicated to promoting Sanskrit. It has translated Hindi and English songs to Sanskrit, and put them on social media and produced food vlogs in Sanskrit. It organises ‘Sanskrit Rides’, where riders go from place to place to popularise Sanskrit. It has even organised a Sanskrit Marathon in Bengaluru.
Sanskrit Weekend is the brainchild of Samashthi Gubbi, founder of Sthaayi.in, who did her MA in Sanskrit Grammar at Tirupati National Sanskrit University.
Explaining the objective of Sanskrit Weekend, Samashthi says people are busy with work during weekdays and it is only on Sundays that they get some time. “Many have learnt Sanskrit in schools and colleges, but they hardly converse in it. We wanted to encourage them to converse in it. We also want to make Sanskrit accessible to the common people and all sections of society, be it doctors, engineers, sportspersons and others,” she says.
This initiative has received tremendous response since its launch two months ago. “We have a repeat turnout of about 80%. The people who came during the first weekend are still coming, and many new people are joining every weekend,” says an elated Samashthi.
The weekend session starts at 7am and concludes at 9am. The session begins with a ‘Sanskrit Walk’ from the HAL entrance at Cubbon Park, with basic conversation in Sanskrit, and the participants start applying what they have learnt during the previous weekends, while talking to their new friends.
After the walk concludes, the members participate in Sanskrit Games, where games are explained and played by conversing in Sanskrit. They participate in Sanskrit Musical Jam and Sanskrit Talent Show. At the Sanskrit Musical, some sing Sanskrit devotional songs. At the Talent Show, the participants are divided into two groups -- one group says dialogues from Kannada, English or Hindi films, and the other group has to translate them into Sanskrit. The session ends with a Mithra Bhojanam, where the participants go to a cafe for breakfast.
“We teach them Sanskrit sentences which are very much related to today’s world and which they normally use while talking to their friends or colleagues in office or family members at home. They should know that they can actually use them in real life situations,” Samashthi says. “We had a few sessions on how to quarrel using Sanskrit. One of the couples who participated actually applied it also!” she adds.
The members are informed about the sessions through a WhatsApp group ‘Kimbho: Weekend II Kimbo Saptahantaha’ formed for this purpose. The activities of this group are posted at ‘Sanskritsparrow’ on Instagram.
With the onset of monsoon, the group is contemplating holding its activities online or holding ‘Sanskrit Breakfast’ or ‘Sanskrit Lunch’.
It is holding a tour to Mattur village in Shivamogga district, which is famous as ‘Sanskrit village’ as all residents converse in Sanskrit, on June 15 and 16. After its success in holding Sanskrit Weekend in Bengaluru, the platform has extended this initiative to cities such as Mumbai and Pune.
What inspired Samashthi?
“When the French converse in their language, or when Spaniards talk in Spanish no one is surprised. But when Indians speak in Sanskrit, people are surprised. We aim for a day when people conversing in Sanskrit is not surprising,” says Samashthi Gubbi, founder of Sthaayi.in. Dr Achyutha, who is interning at Dr BR Ambedkar Medical College and Hospital, attended the session for the first time. He says: “It is a unique experience. We come here to converse and learn Sanskrit. It will help us understand our scriptures better.” Nayana, an architect said, it is a beautiful initiative to promote Sanskrit. Aadya, a class 5 student, has been a regular for the last two months. “I learnt a lot of new Sanskrit words. I enjoy coming here,” she says.