For almost all of us who have received secondary education in Nepal the above phrase brings back memories, memories of the good old school days and alongside, the constant struggle to memorize tricky Sanskrit phrases. [break]
While most of us chose to leave the Sanskrit shloka behind and move on, there are those who have decided to Master the language.
And for those of us who believe Sanskrit is living its last of its grizzled and dilapidated years, these students think otherwise.
Meet Chetan Dahal, a Masters Student and also among the College Committee member of the Balmiki Campus, Putalisadak. Chetan says he not only enjoys but also takes pride in his choice of subject.
He says, “It opens doors to an array of fields like that of language research including archaeological work, reading and understanding of ancient manuscripts.”
Chetan, however, feels that Sanskrit studies have always been deprived of the attention it deserves. He points out three reasons.
Firstly, he says, “Sanskrit is assumed, by many as only a language, second there is a common belief that the studies is meant for a particular cast, and finally people believe the subject is open to only male students.”
The result of these wide spread misconceptions is that Balmiki Campus in the Capita l has only 10 percent of female students.
“We trying everything within our means to increase the number, it’s also what Sanskrit teaches us, it’s a language of unity,” informs Chetan.
Dilli Ram Upadhyaya, supervisor of the college’s hostel and also a teacher has the same thought. He claims Sanskrit, as a subject, has never discriminated people on the basis of their cast, creed or any such social strata.
After the Nepali Mass Movement 2006 however, the university has witnessed a never before surge in the number of female students and of people belong to other casts than that of Brahmins.
His hostel currently accommodates more than a hundred students and of which majority are none Brahmins.
Nirmala Singyali is one of those. The 27-year-old is currently in her first year of Post Graduate studies in Sanskrit from Balmiki Campus.
Nirlmala a local of Gulmi was compelled to come to the Capital a year ago because her village did not have a higher educational institute but she chose the subject because its talks about “grammar, philosophy, religion and provides an insight into life.
It’s not easy however, to learn the endless lines of shlokas in “Bouddha Darshan” the major subject in her course, but she says she is “getting there,” which compensates the lack of time in the past 12 month for her to familiarize herself with Kathmandu.
“Learning the shlokas are definitely not easy but they’re not as difficult as memorizing the thousands of alleys around the city,” she giggles. Nirmala plans to visit places with historical artifacts and all the temples around the city if and when she gets the time.
For Udaya Raj Bhushal currently in his final year of Masters i.e. Acharya, time management is not a problem, as a matter of fact he juggles work and studies.
Majoring in ‘Jyotish Vidya’ Udaya works as a copy editor for a local Nepali tabloid , Aarthik Rastriya Dainik. He believes Sanskrit equips him with the skill. “Once you study Sanskrit, Nepali comes easy and you have the advantage of mastering two languages.”
Asked on what made him choose the subject, he says it’s the versatility and the wide area Sanskrit covers.
“Let me explain to you,” he smiles adding “Within a few months I will be able to set up my own office alongside having experience in Journalism.” Alongside his career Udaya hopes to bring about awareness about the subject.
He says the subject provides its learners with a wide spectrum of knowledge on society, culture and literature.
Romancing Sanskrit literature with its rich repertoire of poetry and drama is not a new trend in the West and if we are to go by what these aspirant Acharya’s in Sanskrit have to say, the subjects is by no means nearing the end.
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