http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/edu/2004/06/28/stories/20040628002408 00.htm Sanskrit wrapped in heritage The `language of the heavens' comes alive here. Mambalam Samskritha Vidyalaya continues to build on its experience of teaching Sanskrit for .ve decades. A Sanskrit class in progress at Orient Math School, West Mambalam, Chennai. -- Photo: R. Ragu ADMISSION FEE to a medical college: Rs. 2,50,000 For a journalism programme: Rs. 1,50,000 For an engineering programme: Rs. 25,000 For Mambalam Samskritha Vidyalaya: Re. 1 Here, at Oriental Math School, beside the chaos on Madley Road subway, patiently sits an 84-year-old man, whose eyes twinkle brighter than the diamond studs on his ears. For 50 years, to over a 1,000 students, he has been teaching Kalidasa's poetry, Bhavabhuthi's dramas and the choicest Sanskrit literature. And he has never ever asked even a rupee from any of them as school fee. `Periya Master' to his students, the frail scholar OR Rajagopalan, started this Vidyalaya beside a well 50 years ago. And he has never missed a class, even when his wife was ill and admitted in hospital. This vidwan has taught the schoolboy and the software professional, the Hindi teacher and the college girl. Even if there are just two students in the class on one fine day, Mr. Rajagopalan would not mind. He will teach them happily, with his trademark commitment. Today, there is a class of youngsters, several of them college students, hanging on to his every word. In his clear voice he takes them through a lesson in the syllabus prescribed by the Samskritha Bhasha Pracharini Sabha, Chitoor, which conducts Sanskrit examinations every six months. Like the Hindi Prachar Sabha, this institution conducts examinations twice a year for Sanskrit students. The course has six levels, from Parichaya (for the beginner) to Abhigna, Vichakshana, Samartha, Kovidha and Vidhya Bhushana, which is on a par with an MA in Sanskrit, says OR Devanathan, a honorary lecturer at the Vidyalaya. Classes are on from 6 p.m., thrice a week for the beginner levels and daily for senior students. A specialty at the Vidyalaya is the Saturday `Vagvardhini Sabha' where students are taught to speak in Sanskrit. "In fact, we use it as a forum to discuss social issues," says one student. The Vidyalaya, in many ways, is a throwback to a different age, run by an idealistic old man who believes that Sanskrit cannot be sold. Dhanya Parthasarathy ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/VkWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: SriRangaSri-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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