Now, English classes for priests in Rajasthan

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Said R.M. Gupta, a US-based NRI: 'It would help people like me who

have come here to get sons or daughters married.

 

By Anil Sharma, IANS, [RxPG] Kota -, Jan 14 - With the demand for

English-speaking Hindu priests growing both in India and abroad, a

Rajasthan organisation has started teaching the language to local

pundits.

 

The pundits are being specifically taught the English translation and

meaning of Sanskrit Vedic mantras or chants. The exercise would help

the pundits provide their services to Indians living abroad as well

as to non-resident Indians - coming to get married here.

 

According to tourism industry figures, over 30 NRI weddings were to

be held in Jaipur between December 2006 and March 2007.

 

A 20-day training module for priests that ended Sunday was held at

the Jyoti Convent School in Kota. As many as 70 students, including

some retired people, first chanted the Sanskrit mantra with their

teachers and then learnt their English translation.

 

The students are enthusiastic about their new classes.

 

'We first chant the mantra in Sanskrit then learn its English

translation.

 

Indian culture is universal and should be preached in every

language,' said one of them, Vinay Tiwari.

 

The Rajasthan Sanskrit Academy and Sanskritam of Kota is undertaking

the classes. The organisers feel that Indians living abroad are

slowly drifting away from their own culture.

 

They don't know Sanskrit and it is difficult to make them understand

Vedic mantras. But priests who can offer English translations would

certainly help.

 

'It's the first time such an effort is being made,' said Sanjay

Chawla, an English teacher.

 

The students would be taught English translations of mantras required

for general rituals and ceremonies, he said.

 

Said R.M. Gupta, a US-based NRI: 'It would help people like me who

have come here to get sons or daughters married.

 

'In February last year, I had come to get my son married. Many

friends and colleagues from the US and Britain came to attend the

wedding. I had to arrange for a translator along with a pundit to

help them understand the mantras. Now only a pundit would be

sufficient,' he said.

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