One of the few reasons I regret taking up Engineering was I missed learning Sanskrit language. I was introduced to this beautiful language very early in life in the form of shlokas. My parents taught me several shlokas as a kid and also explained the meaning of the same a lot of times. Performing pooja on various festivals increased my exposure to this language. I studied in Hindi medium school (meaning Hindi was the first language in Kendriya Vidyalaya, I studied. In fact Social studies was in Hindi ... anyway I digress). So I was familiar with the script of Sanskrit. (Hindi and Sanskrit have very similar script)
I could neither talk nor understand any conversation happening in Sanskrit.
And then high school happened. Sanskrit was my first language. Parents chose this language for me perhaps because it was easier to score better marks in the all important 10th and Pre-University exams. Anyways, I will always be thankful for me for making this choice. They introduced me to a beautiful language which had mesmerizing prose and lovely poetry. The Sanskrit grammar is rich and vast that one could spend their life time appreciating and understanding it in totality. I specifically loved working on "Chchandassu" ... and I how I can I ever forget those immortal lines of "Subhashitas" ??
Quote:
"Vjradapi kathoRani, Mruduni Kusumadapi
LotottaraaNam chetamsi Kohi Vigyantumarhasi"
- Genious lines ....
It helped that I had very good Sanskrit teachers who made sure we learnt our Ramaha, Ramao, Ramaaha along with appreciating the beauty of the language. I seriously considered pursuing higher studies in Sanskrit Literature ... but alas other interests took precedence.
Its been almost 13 long years since I have read anything in Sanskrit. Its a pity I have almost forgotten what I had learnt ...
Which is your favourite language?
6 comments:
Obviously Sanskrit!
One more interesting thing - Sanskrit teachers have always been the best in my schooling. They were the most respected and the ones who's class was most interesting.
I miss those classes :(
http://www.samskrtam.org/katha/katha.html
http://kalidasa.blogspot.com/
@Shyam: why do I hear that Sanskrit teachers' are the best ... everyone I know seems to think that way :))
Thanks for those links :)
In our school, our Sanskrit teacher booked all Moral Science classes (as prescribed by the education board) for teaching Sanskrit. His argued that learning Sanskrit it self was moral science.
Most of Sanskrit teachers are teachers by choice, and not by chance. That probably makes them stand out.
BTW, http://sanskritdocuments.org/ has a good collection of Sanskrit documents.
@Roshan: Sanskrit lessons are moral lessons ... hmm ... thats a unique way of saying it !!
I guess you are right, the Sanskrit teachers are by choice !
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