Sanskrit - 2

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<b>Summer Camps Revive India's Ancient Sanskrit</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"At first I thought it was impossible. The teachers and attendants spoke to us only in Sanskrit, and I did not understand anything," said Hemant, one of the 150 students gathered inside a Hindu temple on the outskirts of New Delhi. "I knew big, heavy bookish words before, but not the simple ones. But now Sanskrit feels like an everyday language."

<b>Such camps, run by volunteers from Hindu nationalist groups</b>, are designed to promote a language long dismissed as dead, and to instill in Hindus religious and cultural pride. Many Sanskrit speakers, though, believe that the camps are a steppingstone to a higher goal: turning back the clock and making Sanskrit modern India's spoken language.
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The Sanskrit project was initiated by the previous government. They had their own priorities. The project was so-so. How many people really speak Sanskrit in India?" said Ramjanam Sharma, head of languages at the National Council of Educational Research and Training, a government body that designs school curriculums. <b>Defending the decision to cut the funding, he said it was not appropriate for schools to teach children how to converse in Sanskrit</b>. "We cannot replicate the teaching methods of traditional religious schools in our mainstream schools."

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"Some people oppose anything that promotes Sanskrit because of its association with Hinduism. We were just trying to make the language a fun experience for students," said Kamla Kant Mishra, a Sanksrit professor and a member of the government project.

"To talk about Sanskrit is very political in India today," Mishra added. "That is the plight of the language."
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"When I learn any language, I learn about its history and its literature," said Jaya Priyam. "But when I study Sanskrit, I learn who I am. It is my identity."
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