The experience of learning Spoken Sanskrit

Many years ago, I got a call from a friend - "Some of us are starting a batch for our kids to learn spoken Sanskrit. Will your child join?" 

"Of course!" 

And that is how Gavish sir, with his unique teaching methodology, entered our lives. And what a difference that has made! 

Later, the batch didn't quite work out, so we converted the classes to individual classes for my son. 

 

Learning spoken Sanskrit is different from learning Sanskrit the way it is currently taught. ALL other languages, without exception, are taught literature and enrichment content first, and grammar last. Sanskrit is the ONLY language in the school in which we start by learning grammar. And everyone knows how interesting that is. It is as if the people doing the curriculum design wanted students to HATE the subject, and they succeeded so well. 

Gavish sir started the same way our kids learn English - with picture books, large format teaching aids, rhymes and very tiny stories. 

From there, we progressed to watching Vartavali - a Sanskrit program that is routinely aired on Doordarshan. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCQNFe7Crz8&list=PLxx0m3vtiqMZGmsUEVeTAuWIXqc9fTMHy

For rhymes and easy stories, we used many Youtube channels, but Vedika is my favorite: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfTbFiweqvA&list=PL-NnUsrhQb_aV8YvAwZXiImb2xkskdgk7

And then we also heard Sanskrit news on radio. 

How is learning spoken Sanskrit different from current pedagogy? 

First, of course, its wayyyy more interesting. 

Secondly, the ability to speak even simple sentences makes one feel rather accomplished. For instance, I will go becomes अहम् गमिष्यामि  - a full and complete sentence. 

Third, we start by making mistakes of grammar and vocabulary - a LOT. But as we keep listening or watching, they slowly iron out. 

Fourth, it does not become perfect. Which means that you might be able to understand the broad meaning of a shloka, you won't be able to create one. Just like English and Hindi, you are always correcting your grammatical and vocabulary mistakes. 

Fifth, it is way easier to understand Vartavali and Radio news. it is not always easy to read, let's say Vidur Niti or Arthashastra. 

Sixth, your exposure to Sanskrit is not just religious books. It is a lot more broad-based. You hear news in Sanskrit, rhymes, stories, and later, i started reading these general interest books. I still prefer to read them with a Hindi translation being readily available. Sukti Saurabham (a brilliant set of books by CBSE) was easy to understand. Vidur Niti, not so much (I have the edition by Chaukhamba). 

 

So, that has been my experience of learning Sanskrit in this way. 

Some great publishers who make awesome beginner story books in Sanskrit are: 

A. National Book Trust has an entire collection in Sanskrit children's books. 

B. Samskrit Bharati Publications has these books that have common phrases in Sanskrit. The books are incredibly low priced. 

C. For more advanced books, there are many publishers like Motilal Banarsidas etc. But I prefer the work of Chaukhamba Prakashan best. I find their translations very good. 

There is also a Sanskrit newspaper that is still in publication - Sudharma. 

I would like to end with a small observation - Sanskrit is not just for reading religious books. Sanskrit has a really rich collection of fiction and non-fiction books. The original Hitopadesha, Panchatantra, Rajatarangini, Kalidasa, Arthashartsa, Lilavati Beej Ganit - all these books are in Sanskrit. So, Sanskrit, like any other language, opens the doors to a rich collection of literature and knowledge, not just religious and spiritual content. 

What I have been trying to explain about my meditation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXtNqL2vxoA

This composition describes it so beautifully!! 

What we should do about education

Whichever way you look at it, education needs help. 

In 2023, more than 10,000 papers were retracted by journals for being fake. 

This article gives a good perspective on how we created this Frankenstein. 

This year, the top US universities found themselves answering to the House of Representatives about support to terror on their campuses.  The Harvard president resigned.  As did the president of U Penn. 

The youtube recording of this hearing is heart breaking. 

Graduates are not guaranteed jobs. In the West, we had job fairs instead of placements any way, but this year, many premier institutions in India had to reach out to alumni for internships and jobs. They did not always succeed. This hasn't happened in one year suddenly. For some years now, placements have been a challenge. 

It's not just higher education that's suffering. 

School teachers are quitting in droves in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, and India. (see links in bibliography at the end). 

So, we have stressed out teachers, frustrated students, broke parents. For whom is this system working? 

It doesn't matter. The fact is, its not working for the primary stakeholders - students, teachers, and parents. 

For decades, education has needed reform. 

That reform has been forthcoming. The National Education Policy, drafted with inputs from the public, educators, and specialists, made some important changes - vocational skills got priority, 

Here is my set of pointers for education 

1. Delink research and education 

It is enough to be a good teacher. One should not need to be a good researcher as well. 

They are two different jobs and while a teacher who researches is great, it should not be mandatory.  There is no logical reason to club these two professions. 

2. Have more practitioners in the classroom 

As a student and a parent, i would like at least 60% of the classes to be taken by people doing the job in the field. There is a huge difference between how it is supposed to be done and how it is actually done. Students need to learn from practitioners. Have them as visiting faculty, or professors of practice. But get the doers in, so that the kids learn how to do. 

3. Pay teachers more 

It's as simple as that. Pay them more. Wayyyy more. Elementary teachers have to do a lot more than high school teachers. Their patience is saintly. 

If a parent had to pay someone to babysit and educate their child at home for that many hours, they would pay, at the very least, 10x more than what they pay per hour to the school. From that, the teacher makes a measly penny. 

The reason that teachers don't get paid more is that parents don't want to be involved with their children's education. When selecting schools, they look at the infrastructure, the brand name, but they don't ask to interact with the teachers. HOWEVER, when doing private tuitions, the same parents want to know everything about the teacher! 

Please, invest in your teachers. They are going to mould your children. Ask the school to pay more to them - both attention, and money. 

4. Make subjects relevant 

At least in India, subjects up to grade 10 are largely relevant. Everyone needs to know basics of history, civics, economics, physics, biology, and chemistry, etc. But the subject matter - not so much. What is covered in high school subjects needs a rehaul. A total rehaul. 

More children need to know how to fix appliances than need to know integration in maths.  

More children need to know the biology of all their organs than the biology of frogs. 

More children need to know how to grow their own food than the creation of Hydrochloric acid in a factory. 

5. Zero Tolerance for Political Activity 

Unless one is designated a political activist (i.e., formal participation in student politics), an academic institution should have zero tolerance for all political activity. This includes but is not limited to: 

A. Social Media posts where the poster names their institution on their profile. (i.e., where they can be recognised as students of so and so). 

B. Events and speakers at the institution. 

C. Volunteering as a member of the institution. 

D. Any place where they represent themselves as being students of an institution. 

I feel terrible recommending something as Draconian as this, but where does one draw the line? The kind of support for Hamas terror we have seen on American universities is shocking. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LMLIGwluao

https://www.buzzfeed.com/michaelabramwell/former-teachers-reveal-final-straw-moments

https://www.devlinpeck.com/content/teacher-burnout-statistics

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jun/08/teachers-england-schools-figures-department-education-survey

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2023/03/06/more-teachers-quitting-than-usual-driven-stress-politics-data-shows/11390639002/

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/young-nsw-teachers-quitting-in-record-numbers-20220923-p5bkfq.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkx2fdGFh4g

https://www.businesstoday.in/education/story/india-has-a-deficit-of-over-1-million-school-teachers-unesco-report-308683-2021-10-07

https://www.indianpolitics.co.in/number-of-teachers-quitting-for-mental-health-reasons-hits-record-high-in-japan/

Book Review: Divine Rivers by ACK

 Every new book from this publisher is cherished.

This book, therefore, makes a notable exception. The book is a disappointment in more ways than one.

The new graphics, coloring, and inking of ACK comics is more "modern". For a long-time reader, this is the same as the "New Archies" kind of comics. It is not something that speaks to the core reader of ACK. Perhaps it is liked more by children. It didn't work for me. The features are not Indian (come to think of it, they are not anything, they are just a mixture of eyes, nose, lips, etc.), everyone has one of the 2-4 skin tones. EVERYONE in the book is brown! No one is fair or dark! All the rishis wear only orange robes with full length dhotis, all the women wear a modern version of lehnga with dupatta or a sari. This was not the dressing one saw in India. Indian women wore an angavastra with a sari that was shaped like a pair of trousers. Sometimes, there was a dupatta, sometimes not. Usually, we do not find princesses wearing a dupatta. In our sculptures, the goddesses or common women do not wear a dupatta.

But the core issue with the book is not the presentation of the graphics. It is in the choice of subjects and the level of detail (or lack thereof).

When we pick up divine rivers, we expect, at the very least, Indus, Brahmaputra, Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, etc.

The book has an eclectic selection. It covers the stories linked to the origin of Godavari, Narmada, Tamrapani, Krishna, Sabarmati, Cauvery (spelled in the book as Kaveri), Beas and Satluj.

It completely misses the most important rivers of India.

Further, where more than one origin story is found in the Puranas, it would have been right to indicate that this is only one of the stories.

My third issue with the book is that it leaves many open questions and has unexplained, unliked episodes. The most glaring example of this is the episode of King Kalmashapada and Rishi Vashishtha (in the story of Sutlej and Beas). There are just 3 frames dedicated to this episode. There is no context, no relevance to the rest of the story, and in general, it leaves the reader wondering.

It would also have helped a LOT if the book had a simple map of all the rivers that it is covering. I tried to make such a map and then realised that there is no comparison between the rivers. Savitri is a small river that does not appear on any national river map of India.

In short, better selection of the rivers, a simple map showing which rivers are covered, better editing of the text, graphics that do not have everyone with brown skin and exactly similar clothes, etc., would have made this an engaging read.

In its present format, the book is a one-time read, but not something one would recommend to buy or keep. ACK can do better. Given its heritage, ACK should do better. A lot more research needs to go into the titles. These titles are representative of India's heritage. Simple mistakes of costume, landscape, and architecture are not ok. 

Note: This review appears on the website of The Children's Post of India 

On Naming IT products

I love how these IT guys name their products. 

They have a project tracking software called JIRA. (हमारे घर में छोंक देने के काम आता है ये) 

A Productivity software called Slack, 

And best of all.. a programming language called Python. 

What's the next version called? 

King Cobra? 

Followed by Zahreeli Naagin? ज़हरीली नागिन ? 

On Insta

 

The Small but Ultimate Book of Online Safety gets listed in Korea!

 The first listing I have in Korea! 

https://product.kyobobook.co.kr/detail/S000213283721