‘Sanskrit is easy to learn’

Sat, 18 Oct, 2008,03:50 PM

If the five myths about Sanskrit is removed from the mind, then Sanskrit could be easily learnt by anyone, said N Balasubramaniam, Advisor, Cryptology and Informatics and Research Advisor, Sanskrit. The myths are that it is a dead language, belongs to the Brahmins, a language of the intellectuals, a Hindu language and difficult to learn. Balasubramaniam was speaking at the inaugural function of the two-day decennial celebrations of the Samskruta Natak Utsav organised by Dharma Kesari Solar Subramana Iyer Trust, at the PS Higher Secondary School, Mylapore. He commended the organisation for holding the function at a time when Sanskrit words were given unwarranted interpretations. These functions are a message for the students, addresses them and draws them to our literary glory. Students should go with confidence to learn the language, he said. The two day festival was planned to revive students interest in Sanskrit language and promote Indian culture and tradition among the present generation. The unique feature of this year’s Nataka Utsav is the Sanskrit sloka competitions are from Amara Kosa, Antakshari and Kathakalashebam. Bharatanatyam competitions are based on the Sanskrit krithis of Oothukaadu Venkatakavi, Swathi Thirunal and Dikshitar. On this occasion, a special postal cover was released to celebrate the 71st birthday of K S Ramani. The cover was released by Indira Krishnakumar, Principal Chief Post Master General, Tamilnadu Circle and received by T N Vallinayagam, former Judge, Karnataka and Madras High Court. The title of Samskruta Ratna was conferred on Dr C S Radhakrishnan, professor of Sanskrit, Pondicherry University. Dr R Thyagarajn, professor and Head of Department, Sankrit, Presidency College felicitated him.