Uttarkashi, Ananda Himani from Sweden has been a volunteer at a ten-day Spoken Sanskrit camp being conducted by Samskrita Bharati at the Government Inter College, Gaursaali, Uttarakashi for students from class 6th to class 9th since the 24th of April this year.
A medical nurse practitioner from Gothenburg in Sweden, Ananda Himani studied the ancient language of Sanskrit under the guidance of Samskrita Bharati, a non-profit organisation which has been working for the revival of the ancient language, she tells me over the phone in fluent Hindi, back from one of her classes.
“Sanskrit is not only a language, it is present in every sphere of Indian culture and society. The language not only contains scriptures pertaining to spirituality but that of science too like astronomy, architecture, astrology, mathematics, chemistry, medicine and more,” adds Ananda who has been learning one, amongst the 23 official languages of India and has now set out to teach one of the oldest languages, through Samskrita Bharati easy style of teaching through audio-visual technique.
Since 2017, these ten-days Spoken Sanskrit camps have seen many enthusiastic takers, in the hill-state to a language also known as ‘Dev Bhasha’ or ‘Devavani.’
About the unique teaching technique, Ananda highlights the fact that Samskrita Bharati believes in inculcating folklore, theatre, dance, games, songs and even plays so that students can learn better. The syllabus of the classes include Sanskrit words for technical equipment and science terminology too so that the student could use up-to-date Sanskrit language in every day life, as the usage of English loanwords makes one forget the language.
As we come to the end of our telephonic conversation, I ask her about Uttarakhand, Ananda Himani signs off saying, “I feel a certain connect with its simple people, its mountains, rivers and forest!”
