The Academy of Yoga and Oriental Studies (AYOS) organised a seminar on “Sanskrit as MIl in the Curriculum” here on Sunday.
Former IPS officer and eminent Sanskrit scholar Arun Kumar Upadhyaya presided over the meeting and former IAS officer and renowned Sanskrit scholar S Sundar Rajan was the chief guest. AYOS director Dr Indulata Das anchored the programme.
Upadhyaya narrated an experience of his own. He had authored a book in Odia, which was in the press for publication. A professor of Odia was requested to do the proofreading of the book. In course of correction, he incorporated many more mistakes to the book than before. The person who had typed the text was much less educated but had some elementary knowledge of Sanskrit. He discarded the corrected copy of the book and did the proofreading himself. This is the result of a little knowledge of Sanskrit, Upadhyaya said.
“The knowledge of our mother tongue is enriched and is more fortified if we learn Sanskrit,” he remarked.
Prof Pratibha Manjari Ratha of Vani Vihar said that earlier a student of science in the college level could not get a chance to read Sanskrit if he or she desired. But after the introduction of Sanskrit as an MIl, the science students got a scope to offer Sanskrit as a subject.
Dr Pratima Sadangi, Reader in Sanskrit, BJB College, said many brilliant students are offering Sanskrit as their MIl subject. Names of 12 students of her class figured in the list of the first twenty in the Council examination.
Anupam Bose, an AYOS member, said, “Sanskrit has entered so intimately into our lives that it is impossible to live without it. No rite can be performed without Sanskrit.”
Manaswini Sadangi, a faculty of Sanskrit Department, Vani Vihar, said, “Sanskrit is our pride and our identity outside India. In foreign countries we Indians are known by this great language and not by any of the regional languages.”
Dr Indulata Das said a mother can never have animosity with her children. So also, Sanskrit can’t have any animosity with any of the regional languages. If some people ever discover any imaginary danger from Sanskrit to any regional language, it is surely prompted by some ulterior reason, she said.
Former OAS officer Bhaskar Chandra Pattnaik said many more steps should be taken to popularise Sanskrit among students. Classroom is the only place to learn the great language Sanskrit, which is the repository of Indian our culture and tradition.
Sundar Rajan said languages like Hindi, Bengali, Asamiya, Telugu, Tamil, etc., are nurtured by Sankrit, which is the lifeblood of all the regional languages.
Other speakers also extolled Sanskrit in glowing terms and welcomed the Government’s step to include Sanskrit as an MIl in the curriculum in the +2 and +3 classes. They viewed unanimously that the students would be greatly benefitted by this.