Complete Sanskrit speaking village still in MP

December 15, 2008

This Article Appeared in Hindustan Times Dated Sep 20th ,2008.

A Village still exists in india where the language spoken in only sanskrit!

Here is the article about that village:

Prem Narayan Chauhan pats his oxen, pushing them to go a little faster. Ziighrataram, ziighrataram chalanti, he urges them. The animals respond to their master's call, picking up pace on the muddy path that leads to his 10-acre cornfield.

Chauhan, 35, dropped out of school early, after Class II. He does not consider it remarkable that he speaks what is considered a dying language (or that his oxen respond to it). For him, Sanskrit is not a devabhasha, the language of the gods, but one rooted in the commonplace, in the ebb and flow of everyday life in Jhiri, the remote hamlet in Madhya Pradesh, where he lives.

Mutterings under banyan trees, chit-chat in verandahs, pleasantries on village paths, disputes in the panchayat — in Jhiri, it's all in Sanskrit.

And then, a cellphone rings. The moment of contemporary reality is fleeting. Anachronism and Amar Chitra Katha take over as the conversation begins: "Namo, namah. Tvam kutra asi?" (Greetings. Where are you?)

A lost world rediscovered

Jhiri is India's own Jurassic Park. A lost world that has been recreated carefully and painstakingly, but lives a precarious existence, cut off from the compelling realities of the world outside.

The 1,000-odd residents of this hamlet, 150 km north of Indore, hardly speak the local dialect, Malwi, any longer. Ten years have been enough for the Sanskritisation of life here. Minus the Brahminical pride historically associated with the language — Jhiri has just one Brahmin family.

The much-admired 24-year-old Vimla Panna who teaches Sanskrit in the local school belongs to the Oraon tribe, which is spread over Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. And the village is an eclectic mix of Kshatriyas, Thakurs, Sondhias, Sutars and the tribal Bhils. Panna has been key in popularising Sanskrit with the women of Jhiri. With mothers speaking the language, the children naturally follow.

Take 16-year-old unlettered Seema Chauhan. She speaks Sanskrit as fluently as Panna, who studied the language for seven years for her Master's degree.

Chauhan is a livewire, humouring and abusing the village girls in Sanskrit. "I just listened to Vimla didi," she says. "In fact, I'm often at a loss for words in Malwi." Just married to a man from a neighbouring village, she says confidently, "My children will speak in Sanskrit because I will talk to them in it."

As eight-year-old Pinky Chauhan joins us, she greets me politely: "Namo namaha. Bhavaan kim karoti?" (What brings you here?) Her father Chander Singh Chauhan laughs and says, "My wife started speaking to me in this language, so I learnt it to figure out what she was saying behind my back."

Let's get official

Mukesh Jain, CEO, Janpad Panchayat, Sarangpur tehsil (which includes Jhiri), recalls, "I could not believe it when I first came here. It can get difficult during official interactions, but we encourage them."

All kinds of logistical problems crop up in Jhiri. This year, 250 students did their school-leaving exams in Sanskrit. "A Sanskrit teacher had to work along with all the examiners of other subjects," says Jain.

But there are some positive offshoots too. Thanks to Sanskrit, Jhiri has re-discovered some lost technologies of irrigation, conservation and agriculture from the old scriptures. A siphon system of water recharging, for instance, resulted in uninterrupted water supply through the year in the fields. Small check-dams, wells and irrigation facilities followed.

"It is matter of pride for us to retrieve these old techniques from the scriptures. With no help from the government and without using any artificial systems, we've reaped great benefits," says Uday Singh Chauhan, president of the Vidya Gram Vikash Samity, which runs development programmes in the village.

But Jhiri's pride stops at Sanskrit. The first doctor, engineer, economist, scientist or linguist is yet to walk out from it. After finishing school, most village youth join a political party.

Electricity is a matter of luxury, so is sanitation. Even the school does not have a toilet, which is the single biggest reason for girls dropping out at the senior secondary level. The average age of marriage for women is 14. Even Panna, who was thinking of doing her PhD, had to give in to the wishes of the wise men of Jhiri who got her married to the other schoolteacher, Balaprasad Tiwari.

There is no public transport; an Internet connection is unimaginable. Jhiri desperately needs to connect to the rest of the world, to explore its infinite possibilities, to grow.

But Jhiri is still a success story, especially when you consider that a similar experiment, started a couple of decades ago in Muttur village of Karnataka's Shimoga district, failed, because of the caste factor — it remained caged with Brahmin patrons.

"About 80 per cent people of the village are Brahmins who know Sanskrit but won't speak it. This is because the carpenters and blacksmiths would not respond to it," says Dr Mathur Krishnaswami, head of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bangalore, who was involved with the movement.

"No language in the world can survive until the common man starts speaking it," he points out.

Muttur failed. Jurassic Park destroyed itself. Jhiri must not.

Cant believe it? check it yourself in the link below

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=51aeb44c-438a-44b6-979b-baef18b83359

December 15, 2008

Respected Sunil Ji

Sanskrit is in COMA STAGE.Bcoz it cant be declared a dead laguage due

to its resemblance in all indian languages,scientific phonetical

importance & its huge collection of all type of literature . At other

side many people are feeding it in various styles with a hope. All

this treatment seems as a regular dose of glucose ,to any patient of

coma ,with a hope of revival.What a dilemma with Sanskrit Language!

Being a scholar of Sanskrit ,I think - above words are not

only views ,these are the concised summary of pain of each

Sanskrit-Devotee.

With Regards

Pt.Lalkitabee

V.Shukla

, " sunil nair "

<astro_tellerkerala wrote:

>

> This Article Appeared in Hindustan Times Dated Sep 20th ,2008.

>

> A Village still exists in india where the language spoken in only

> sanskrit!

> Here is the article about that village: Prem Narayan Chauhan pats his

> oxen, pushing them to go a little faster. Ziighrataram, ziighrataram

> chalanti, he urges them. The animals respond to their master's call,

> picking up pace on the muddy path that leads to his 10-acre cornfield.

> Chauhan, 35, dropped out of school early, after Class II. He does not

> consider it remarkable that he speaks what is considered a dying

> language (or that his oxen respond to it). For him, Sanskrit is not a

> devabhasha, the language of the gods, but one rooted in the commonplace,

> in the ebb and flow of everyday life in Jhiri, the remote hamlet in

> Madhya Pradesh, where he lives. Mutterings under banyan trees,

> chit-chat in verandahs, pleasantries on village paths, disputes in the

> panchayat — in Jhiri, it's all in Sanskrit. And then, a cellphone

> rings. The moment of contemporary reality is fleeting. Anachronism and

> Amar Chitra Katha take over as the conversation begins: " Namo, namah.

> Tvam kutra asi? " (Greetings. Where are you?) A lost world rediscovered

> Jhiri is India's own Jurassic Park. A lost world that has been recreated

> carefully and painstakingly, but lives a precarious existence, cut off

> from the compelling realities of the world outside. The 1,000-odd

> residents of this hamlet, 150 km north of Indore, hardly speak the local

> dialect, Malwi, any longer. Ten years have been enough for the

> Sanskritisation of life here. Minus the Brahminical pride historically

> associated with the language — Jhiri has just one Brahmin family.

> The much-admired 24-year-old Vimla Panna who teaches Sanskrit in the

> local school belongs to the Oraon tribe, which is spread over

> Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. And the village is an eclectic mix of

> Kshatriyas, Thakurs, Sondhias, Sutars and the tribal Bhils. Panna has

> been key in popularising Sanskrit with the women of Jhiri. With mothers

> speaking the language, the children naturally follow. Take

> 16-year-old unlettered Seema Chauhan. She speaks Sanskrit as fluently as

> Panna, who studied the language for seven years for her Master's degree.

> Chauhan is a livewire, humouring and abusing the village girls in

> Sanskrit. " I just listened to Vimla didi, " she says. " In fact, I'm often

> at a loss for words in Malwi. " Just married to a man from a neighbouring

> village, she says confidently, " My children will speak in Sanskrit

> because I will talk to them in it. " As eight-year-old Pinky Chauhan

> joins us, she greets me politely: " Namo namaha. Bhavaan kim karoti? "

> (What brings you here?) Her father Chander Singh Chauhan laughs and

> says, " My wife started speaking to me in this language, so I learnt it

> to figure out what she was saying behind my back. " Let's get official

> Mukesh Jain, CEO, Janpad Panchayat, Sarangpur tehsil (which includes

> Jhiri), recalls, " I could not believe it when I first came here. It can

> get difficult during official interactions, but we encourage them. "

> All kinds of logistical problems crop up in Jhiri. This year, 250

> students did their school-leaving exams in Sanskrit. " A Sanskrit teacher

> had to work along with all the examiners of other subjects, " says Jain.

> But there are some positive offshoots too. Thanks to Sanskrit, Jhiri has

> re-discovered some lost technologies of irrigation, conservation and

> agriculture from the old scriptures. A siphon system of water

> recharging, for instance, resulted in uninterrupted water supply through

> the year in the fields. Small check-dams, wells and irrigation

> facilities followed. " It is matter of pride for us to retrieve these

> old techniques from the scriptures. With no help from the government and

> without using any artificial systems, we've reaped great benefits, " says

> Uday Singh Chauhan, president of the Vidya Gram Vikash Samity, which

> runs development programmes in the village. But Jhiri's pride stops

> at Sanskrit. The first doctor, engineer, economist, scientist or

> linguist is yet to walk out from it. After finishing school, most

> village youth join a political party. Electricity is a matter of

> luxury, so is sanitation. Even the school does not have a toilet, which

> is the single biggest reason for girls dropping out at the senior

> secondary level. The average age of marriage for women is 14. Even

> Panna, who was thinking of doing her PhD, had to give in to the wishes

> of the wise men of Jhiri who got her married to the other schoolteacher,

> Balaprasad Tiwari. There is no public transport; an Internet

> connection is unimaginable. Jhiri desperately needs to connect to the

> rest of the world, to explore its infinite possibilities, to grow.

> But Jhiri is still a success story, especially when you consider that a

> similar experiment, started a couple of decades ago in Muttur village of

> Karnataka's Shimoga district, failed, because of the caste factor —

> it remained caged with Brahmin patrons. " About 80 per cent people of

> the village are Brahmins who know Sanskrit but won't speak it. This is

> because the carpenters and blacksmiths would not respond to it, " says Dr

> Mathur Krishnaswami, head of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bangalore, who

> was involved with the movement. " No language in the world can survive

> until the common man starts speaking it, " he points out. Muttur

> failed. Jurassic Park destroyed itself. Jhiri must not.

>

> Cant believe it? check it yourself in the link below

>

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=51aeb44c-438a-\

> 44b6-979b-baef18b83359

>

<http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=51aeb44c-438a\

> -44b6-979b-baef18b83359>

>

December 16, 2008

hare rama krishna

dear shukla ji

sure ,thanks for the comments .

actualy sanskrit shud b the link language of india ,now we r even loosing the age old teasures also as most of the earlier devlpmnts was recorded in sanskrit .

any way i hope sanskrit lovers cud still do some thing if they r serious .This village itself is an example

regrds sunil nair

om shreem mahalaxmai namah

, "lalkitabee" <lalkitabee wrote:>> Respected Sunil Ji> Sanskrit is in COMA STAGE.Bcoz it cant be declared a dead laguage due> to its resemblance in all indian languages,scientific phonetical> importance & its huge collection of all type of literature . At other> side many people are feeding it in various styles with a hope. All> this treatment seems as a regular dose of glucose ,to any patient of> coma ,with a hope of revival.What a dilemma with Sanskrit Language!> Being a scholar of Sanskrit ,I think - above words are not> only views ,these are the concised summary of pain of each> Sanskrit-Devotee.> With Regards> Pt.Lalkitabee> V.Shukla> , "sunil nair"> astro_tellerkerala@ wrote:> >> > > > This Article Appeared in Hindustan Times Dated Sep 20th ,2008.> > > > A Village still exists in india where the language spoken in only> > sanskrit!> > Here is the article about that village: Prem Narayan Chauhan pats his> > oxen, pushing them to go a little faster. Ziighrataram, ziighrataram> > chalanti, he urges them. The animals respond to their master's call,> > picking up pace on the muddy path that leads to his 10-acre cornfield.> > Chauhan, 35, dropped out of school early, after Class II. He does not> > consider it remarkable that he speaks what is considered a dying> > language (or that his oxen respond to it). For him, Sanskrit is not a> > devabhasha, the language of the gods, but one rooted in the commonplace,> > in the ebb and flow of everyday life in Jhiri, the remote hamlet in> > Madhya Pradesh, where he lives. Mutterings under banyan trees,> > chit-chat in verandahs, pleasantries on village paths, disputes in the> > panchayat — in Jhiri, it's all in Sanskrit. And then, a cellphone> > rings. The moment of contemporary reality is fleeting. Anachronism and> > Amar Chitra Katha take over as the conversation begins: "Namo, namah.> > Tvam kutra asi?" (Greetings. Where are you?) A lost world rediscovered> > Jhiri is India's own Jurassic Park. A lost world that has been recreated> > carefully and painstakingly, but lives a precarious existence, cut off> > from the compelling realities of the world outside. The 1,000-odd> > residents of this hamlet, 150 km north of Indore, hardly speak the local> > dialect, Malwi, any longer. Ten years have been enough for the> > Sanskritisation of life here. Minus the Brahminical pride historically> > associated with the language — Jhiri has just one Brahmin family.> > The much-admired 24-year-old Vimla Panna who teaches Sanskrit in the> > local school belongs to the Oraon tribe, which is spread over> > Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. And the village is an eclectic mix of> > Kshatriyas, Thakurs, Sondhias, Sutars and the tribal Bhils. Panna has> > been key in popularising Sanskrit with the women of Jhiri. With mothers> > speaking the language, the children naturally follow. Take> > 16-year-old unlettered Seema Chauhan. She speaks Sanskrit as fluently as> > Panna, who studied the language for seven years for her Master's degree.> > Chauhan is a livewire, humouring and abusing the village girls in> > Sanskrit. "I just listened to Vimla didi," she says. "In fact, I'm often> > at a loss for words in Malwi." Just married to a man from a neighbouring> > village, she says confidently, "My children will speak in Sanskrit> > because I will talk to them in it." As eight-year-old Pinky Chauhan> > joins us, she greets me politely: "Namo namaha. Bhavaan kim karoti?"> > (What brings you here?) Her father Chander Singh Chauhan laughs and> > says, "My wife started speaking to me in this language, so I learnt it> > to figure out what she was saying behind my back." Let's get official > > Mukesh Jain, CEO, Janpad Panchayat, Sarangpur tehsil (which includes> > Jhiri), recalls, "I could not believe it when I first came here. It can> > get difficult during official interactions, but we encourage them." > > All kinds of logistical problems crop up in Jhiri. This year, 250> > students did their school-leaving exams in Sanskrit. "A Sanskrit teacher> > had to work along with all the examiners of other subjects," says Jain.> > But there are some positive offshoots too. Thanks to Sanskrit, Jhiri has> > re-discovered some lost technologies of irrigation, conservation and> > agriculture from the old scriptures. A siphon system of water> > recharging, for instance, resulted in uninterrupted water supply through> > the year in the fields. Small check-dams, wells and irrigation> > facilities followed. "It is matter of pride for us to retrieve these> > old techniques from the scriptures. With no help from the government and> > without using any artificial systems, we've reaped great benefits," says> > Uday Singh Chauhan, president of the Vidya Gram Vikash Samity, which> > runs development programmes in the village. But Jhiri's pride stops> > at Sanskrit. The first doctor, engineer, economist, scientist or> > linguist is yet to walk out from it. After finishing school, most> > village youth join a political party. Electricity is a matter of> > luxury, so is sanitation. Even the school does not have a toilet, which> > is the single biggest reason for girls dropping out at the senior> > secondary level. The average age of marriage for women is 14. Even> > Panna, who was thinking of doing her PhD, had to give in to the wishes> > of the wise men of Jhiri who got her married to the other schoolteacher,> > Balaprasad Tiwari. There is no public transport; an Internet> > connection is unimaginable. Jhiri desperately needs to connect to the> > rest of the world, to explore its infinite possibilities, to grow. > > But Jhiri is still a success story, especially when you consider that a> > similar experiment, started a couple of decades ago in Muttur village of> > Karnataka's Shimoga district, failed, because of the caste factor —> > it remained caged with Brahmin patrons. "About 80 per cent people of> > the village are Brahmins who know Sanskrit but won't speak it. This is> > because the carpenters and blacksmiths would not respond to it," says Dr> > Mathur Krishnaswami, head of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bangalore, who> > was involved with the movement. "No language in the world can survive> > until the common man starts speaking it," he points out. Muttur> > failed. Jurassic Park destroyed itself. Jhiri must not.> > > > Cant believe it? check it yourself in the link below> > > >> http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=51aeb44c-438a-\> > 44b6-979b-baef18b83359> >> <http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=51aeb44c-438a\> > -44b6-979b-baef18b83359>> >>

December 16, 2008

Dear Nairji,

Years ago I read an actual case, in the Readers Digest, which seems to be very relevant here. In one school the French teacher had taken leave for a month at the very beginning of the new year session. The principal of the school requested another person, who knew French but had no teaching experience, to take that class for one month, during the absence of the regular teacher. That person reluctantly agreed.

At the end of the month when the new teacher came he was surprised to find that the boys in that class could speak French fluently and accurately, whereas his own past students could not speak like that even after one year of teaching. What the make-shift person did was to make the boys talk in French from day one.

I think the our Sanskrit classes should be like that with the Sanskrit-speaking periods along with the conventional teaching periods and that will really evoke the required interest in the people and Sanskrit may become the spoken language again.

Regards,

Sunil K. Bhattacharjya

..--- On Mon, 12/15/08, sunil nair <astro_tellerkerala wrote:

sunil nair <astro_tellerkerala Complete Sanskrit speaking village still in MP Date: Monday, December 15, 2008, 5:43 AM