MP village attempts to revive Sanskrit

Kumar Shakti Shekhar
Sunday, December 24, 2006 (Rajgarh):

There is a unique village in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh where almost all the people always converse in Sanskrit.

Children are determined to teach Sanskrit to people who they meet. Villagers initially resisted the language but now after three years, they cant do without it.

Jhiri in Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh district has renewed the old custom and people have taken it upon themselves to popularise Sanskrit.So for the past three years, Sanskrit has been the medium of education at all schools in Jhiri.

Career in Sanskrit

Now the children speak fluent Sanskrit, even outside the school. In fact, they want to make a career in the ancient language. It's not just the children, even the grown-ups now speak only in Sanskrit.

"I get immense pleasure in talking in Sanskrit because it is our language," said Shyama Chauhan, housewife.Three years ago, the villagers formed the Vidyagram Development Committee (VDC), which decided that everyone, regardless of caste or religion, would learn Sanskrit.

Now even those who may not know the technicalities of the language still speak fluent Sanskrit."An illiterate girl of the village was stunned when she was being taught Sanskrit. She told me that the teacher asked her things like singular and plural. She said that she knew how to speak Sanskrit but did not know the grammar part," said Uday Singh Chauhan, president, VDC.

For the residents of the village Sanskrit is not only a language but also a medium to become more cultured and civilized and this has helped them to a large extent in achieving the goals of social harmony, development and prohibition.

NDTV, December 24, 2006