Part 1
Kaushalam
Trust
Before
the beginning
The
idea for Kaushalam Trust had its seed perhaps in my Training in
Sanskrit way back with my grandfather Dr Balram Sadashiv Agnihotri
who was a great scholar of Sanskrit and philosophy. My
grandmother had marvellous teaching methods and she trained mein many
soft and hard skills. I still recall vividly my first recitation of
Atharva Sheersha at the age of four at a school function where she
had presided.My mother who had
an informal Sanskrit training with him, often kindled my imagination
by reciting beautiful Sanskrit Shlokas and at times by coupling the
ideas of Sanskrit granthas with modern theories of Physics, Ecology
and Biodiversity.
Later
mother started to put up together her ideas for Revival of Sanskrit
and elicited the views of many of her colleagues, often sharing them
all with me. Finally she persuaded me to create the Trust, and agreed
to work for it as its concept-builder and chief patron.
The
approach for Kaushalam Trust is to elicit partnership from all the
thousands of scholars who are working in isolation all over the
world. By facilitating their networking, we can pave way for useful
research for modern problems, based on our old wisdom found in the
Granthas.
The
name Kaushalam comes
from
योगः
कर्मसु कौशलम्…
the
pronouncement made
in BhagwadGeeta
which is the first text of the world that puts work-efficiency on the
highest pedestal by proclaiming that being work-efficient is being a
YOGI
that is someone in
UNION
with GOD.
According
to Indian philosophy knowledge is gained only through daily-life
experiments and self-experience -- Anubhooti is the word which is not
translatable. Anubhooti comes only through everyday practice. Hence
the importance of यम
and
नियम
as
pronounced in Patanjal Yogsutra. These experimentations have
influenced and determined the Indian life-style in past. If we wish
to explore the knowledge then gained, then Sanskrit being the
language of Granthas is a powerful tool – and yet only a tool. The
actual recapitulation of knowledge can come only through high degree
of research, covering a large variety of subjects from Agriculture to
Ecology to Psychology to Astronomy to Physics to Cosmology and so on.
Unto this, we three, but mostly mother and grandfather have been
exploring various aspects of Research rigorously for some years
before registering the Trust.
For
this very first “Progress report” of the Trust, where the
Trustees have decided to put up a combined three year report, I
invite my mother to narrate briefly the preparatory efforts from year
2000 onwards. There will not be another appropriate space and
occasion to put that on record. Towards the goal of research, I
invite you all to join hand in our efforts. Over to the Chief Patron
and Trustees for the formal Report.
---- Hrishikesh Mehendale
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pa
Part 2
A
Brief Narrative of the preparatory work done during 2000-2008.
–
Leena
Mehendale, Chief Patron
Legacy
– (Add
about Smt Leela Agnihotri and Dr M A Mehendale)
The
prime inspiration behind my approach to Revival
of Sanskrit came from my father Dr. Balram S. Agnihotri, retired
Professor and Research Guide of Mithila Sanskrit Research Institute
Bihar. He
was a great scholar of Sanskrit, Philosophy and Jyotish. A believer
in Geeta and Patanjal Yogshastra, he daily practised Yog, Pranayam,
Dhyan. He introduced us to these techniques as well and to the
practise of daily recital of BhagawadGeeta and taught us to look
deeply into this book for any complex situation in life. Through his
travels and his students who later spread throughout India, he had
developed a PAN- vision on revival of Sanskrit which we inculcated a
sour Legacy.
Born
at Dharangaon, District
Jalgaon (Maharashtra)
in 1916, he completed his schooling at P.R.
High School, Dharangaon,
and moved to H.P.T.
College, Nashik
for graduation. Then he moved to S.P.
College, Pune for
post graduation in Sanskrit. Realising that the college teaching
through English was missing the spirit, he took private lessons from
a well known traditional scholar shri Arjunwadkar. Then he went again
to HPT, Nasik for
his second postgraduation in Philosophy and thereafter joined
Kaivalyadham Yog Institute as a faculty for Yog philosophy. The
institute funded him for his PhD from
Bombay University at
Wilson College Mumbai under prof Welankar. He
took his Doctorate in 1948 on "Investigations of Yoga and its
implication found in Vedic Literature"
Simultaneously he studied yogasan and Jyotish.
Events
flowed. First the doctorate, then marriage with Leela Namjoshi of
Devrukh, then getting 3 children, brief spells of working as teacher
and principal at schools in Khandwa and Vyara , followed by three
years of lecturership in Hitkarini College Jabalpur. Somewhere in
between he got an offer from Columbia Univ to join as a prof of
Sanskrit, but looking at the old age of his father, he rejected the
offer. In 1959 he joined as Professor in the prestigious Mithila
Sanskrit Research Institute, Darbhanga of Govt of Bihar, dedicated
for postgraduate studies in Sanskrit and Philosophy. During his 20
year long tenure, many students benefitted by his teachings, while 17
students obtained their PhD under his guidance. Grooming
all three children to brilliant academic career (two in the IAS, one
a leading doctor), providing a steady anchor point to Maharashtrian
and south Indian community in Bihar, pursuing his own studies of the
rich philosophy texts, both Eastern and Western, and endearing all
with his expertise and free guidance on Astrology, he was a well
respected and well consulted personality with innumerable friends.
These
were very productive years as he travelled a lot, attended several
Oriental Conferrences, wrote for their journals, completed a Treatise
on Kadambari of Banbhatta (published by Choukhamba Publication
Varanasi) We had yearly summer vacation visits to Maharashtra and
particularly the ancestral house at Dharangaon. Here he held a
one-month long session of daily pravachan, on Geeta, Dnneshwari and
Tulsi Ramayan for the community. He continued this unbroken practice
from 1959 till 1997. He was a regular speaker on Upanishads and other
texts at Akashwani Jalgaon. During all these years hundreds of people
benefitted by his knowledge of Asrological predictions coupled with
the Mantra-Deeksha that he gave for deriving benefits of Astrological
aspects. He looked at Astrology as a scientific study, to be persued
with extreme truthfulness and without charging fees. This was an
important aspect that influenced us children to the core values of
truthfulness, scientific outlook, rigorous study, thinking of
community and contentment. He would discuss vital importance of
research and documentation in Astrology as distinct and yet integral
part of Astronomy. Our travels with him helped us to develop a
Pan-India outlook, especially as regards Cultural Unity of this land.
It helped me to personally connect with several Sanskrit scholars all
over India.
His
published works include
-
Kadambari Kathasar : A trilingual commentary ( Published by Choukhamba Publishers Varanasi)
-
Patanjal Yogsutra
-
Sankhyakarika
-
Yogatrayi - A comparison between three upanishda - Kath, Mandukya and Shwetashwatar
-
Buddhiyoga - The exhibitory sermons of Bhagwadgita.
-
Ten journals in All India Oriental Conferences.
-
A large number of articles and research papers written regularly for "Dyaneshwar" quarterly, newspapers and AIR.
-
At the ripe age of 88, he was enthusiastic to recite the complete Bhagwadgita in his vibrant, resonant voice - this is now available in CD format. Later, this also formed part of "Sanrakshan Yoga", a TV serial dedicated to work efficiency and energy efficiency. The video CD is also now available.
-
For 36 years, he gave 1 month discourse on Dyaneshwari and Bhagwadgita for the locals of his native village Dharangaon.
Being
an astute devotee of Krishna, he undertook the Pandharpur Wari in
1986 and 1987. This meant travelling on foot alongwith other devotees
from Dharangaon to Pandharpur – a journey of 22 days. He discussed
in details the social implications of such wari and inspired us to
look at such traditions as a source of very many reforms and positive
enenrgy. He similarly brought to our attention, a maligned tradition
of pandas at various pilgrim places. Their technique of keeping
Vanshaval of a host of families visiting these places and the huge
data in their collection are subjects and source for social studies
and research in Genetics. For such studies it is necessary to
promote simultaneous expertise in both the tradtional knowledge and
modern sciences. Towards that goal, it is also necessary to have
interdisciplinary study – a technique which is presently absent in
Indian system of Education.
He
would often discuss the need to revamp our College syllabi so as to
introduce hard-core texts like Artha Shatra, Patanjal Yogsutra,
Charak Sutra etc. In
2000, he expressed his wish to write a book explaining the Yogsutra
for undergraduate students. Hrishikesh undertook the responsibility
to publish it. This initiative led to more books on his favorite
subjects namely SankhyaKarika, Yogtrayi (combined study of Katha,
Shetashwatar and Mandukya Upanishad) and finally a voluminous book
“Buddhiyog- The exhibitory sermons of Bhagawad Geeta”. They were
all published by Hrishikesh.
In
2004, Dr. Agnihotri, then 88 years of age, agreed to travel
Pune-Delhi for recording of BhagwadGeeta. This was arranged at the
studio of Shri Bhutani, someone already in tune with our goal of
bringing Sanskrit more vigorously on audio-visual platform. We did
the master audio recording in Dr Agnihotri's flawless, tireless and
impressive voice. This has now remained as a permanent treasure for
Kaushalam Trust and for anyone who wishes to learn BhagawadGeeta.
Another goalpost was reached when we were able to produce a
serialised audio-visual program Sanrakshan Yog, in which the theme
was to highlight the Geeta message of Yogah Karmasu Kaushalam as the
key for energy conservation and Environment Protection. This
78-episode serial was telecast on a weekly basis on Astha channel,
and will remain as another archival treasure for Kaushalam Trust.
Dr.
Agnihotri was an expert Astrologer, a practitioner of Ashtang Yoga
Sadhana, especially Yogasana, Pranayam and Dhyana. Till the very end,
he maintained good health and a fit and active life style.
A
small illness causing weakness, a short spell of fever and fatigue,
finally took him to the Ultimate Long Journey, from which he would
not return. An avid traveler, he had visited many parts of India and
and even spent 6 months in U.K. But, once on the path of no return,
he now will live only in the memory of his many friends and well
wishers.
I
must mention the role of my mother Shrimati Leela Agnihotri, who
always persuaded me towards output. Having been blessed by God with
so much good environment, and suitable circumstances, what are our
efforts to give back to the society ? With this question, she would
ask us to do something more despite our very arduous jobs which
themselves required high degree of work-efficiency, honesty,
commitment and vision. The trust owes its creation to her persuation.
A
significant role was also played by my Uncle-in-Law, Dr M A
Mehendale, a great scholar of Sanskrit,
Prakrit, Mahabharat, Nirukta and Avesta. At the ripe age of 99, he
is always available for all small and big querries, be it about the
concepts or about the experts who have persuaded and studied those
concepts.
Part 3
Preparing
for Various dimensions of Reviving Sanskrit and Sanskriti
1.
Early discussions on the theme –
The
Concept paper Revival of Sanskrit, which is included as a part of
this report, was circulated amongst various scholars and the theme
was personally discussed with stalwarts such as Dr Karan Singh, Dr
Sarojini Mahishi, Dr MA Mehendale, Shri Shrikrishna Arjunwadkar, Dr
Udaykant Mishra, Shri Kutumbshastri, Dr Panchmukhi, Dr N.
Gopalaswami, Dr Shanta Shastri, Dr. Garge, Dr Vachaspati, Shri Chamu
Krishna Shastri, Shri Shirish Kawde etc. A variety of strategies and
possible research areas emerged. These discussions would continue over
coming years too.
2.
Contributions of Peer groups
A
series of brainstorming sessions was undertaken regarding small and
big action-points aimed at Revival of Sanskrit. Major focus was on
creation of study material and using Media. Peer groups such as my
IAS colleagues, co-workers of my office, younger Sanskrit scholars,
students of various branches possessing a variety of skills, writers,
etc gave multifarious inputs. Major short-term focus was decided to
be TV serials and the following paper emerged from those discussions
--
A
Trust and a TV serial as step
1
of the
plan
for Revival
of Sanskrit
For benefiting from the vast treasure of knowledge available in Sanskrit, a holistic approach and a dedicated mission is needed. Registration of Trust and creation of a TV serial on Sanskrit emerged as step 1 of a bigger plan. The Trust should pursue Mission objectives namely --
1) Preserve and study this ancient huge knowledge bank.
2) Felicitate experts and those who have preserved the knowledge in various ways.
3) Propogate learning, teaching and use of Sanskrit.
4) Associate with modern tools and take forward the knowledge in Sanskrit.
5) Consolidate this vast treasure from its scattered sources – Let all scholars be connected.
6) Authenticate by testing, important premises available from Sanskrit Granthas. Easiest to try this is in Ayurved which is still a continuing health-tradition and its Granthas state these premises in more concrete terms. Many more premises in mathematics, science, astronomy, geography, social sciences too should be put to rigoruos research.
7) Bring out areas where the premises can be applied in modern science and societal functions so as to create assets for future
A bigger plan, beyond TV Serial is required for Connectivity and Research aspects. TV serial will have to be used as a tool to approach them.
For benefiting from the vast treasure of knowledge available in Sanskrit, a holistic approach and a dedicated mission is needed. Registration of Trust and creation of a TV serial on Sanskrit emerged as step 1 of a bigger plan. The Trust should pursue Mission objectives namely --
1) Preserve and study this ancient huge knowledge bank.
2) Felicitate experts and those who have preserved the knowledge in various ways.
3) Propogate learning, teaching and use of Sanskrit.
4) Associate with modern tools and take forward the knowledge in Sanskrit.
5) Consolidate this vast treasure from its scattered sources – Let all scholars be connected.
6) Authenticate by testing, important premises available from Sanskrit Granthas. Easiest to try this is in Ayurved which is still a continuing health-tradition and its Granthas state these premises in more concrete terms. Many more premises in mathematics, science, astronomy, geography, social sciences too should be put to rigoruos research.
7) Bring out areas where the premises can be applied in modern science and societal functions so as to create assets for future
A bigger plan, beyond TV Serial is required for Connectivity and Research aspects. TV serial will have to be used as a tool to approach them.
3.
Registration of Trust
During
this journey two anchors, namely Shri Mukund Kulkarni and Smt Vrunda
Gupte were continuously available for discussing all suggested
concepts, their viability and implemetability. Finally, they also
accepted the Trusteeship, a burden of Trust, to be carried out to the
best of their ability. Accordingly the Trust was registered in 2008.
Part 4
Some
Guiding Concepts
A.
Role of Media-
Today
Sanskrit is at crossroads. Though Indian Constitution mentions it as
one of the Modern Indian Languages, Sanskrit speaking population in
the country has
vastly dwindled.
There
is, however,
a need to sustain the currency of Sanskrit at various levels given
that it is the Mother language of a majority of Indian and
world languages.
It
is the
fountainhead of our culture and its
rich literature still holds attraction for many a scholars. Most
important, its study at a deeper level has a lot to offer to modern
Indian knowledge, be it Mathematics, Ayurveda, Yoga, Grammar,
Linguistics, Philosophy, Agriculture, Music, Social
systems and
even IT.
Traditional methods of retaining the currency of Sanskrit, let alone enhance it, have their own limitations, major among them being their insulation from modern communication avenues and tools. We must learn to use modern communication techniques and explore policy initiatives needed to support such efforts. These techniques will have to adopt parallel processing approach, given the diverse nature of the audience interested in Sanskrit such as those engaging with it at a very basic and emotional level, those doing so at a deeper level of understanding and enjoyment, those using it in livelihood mode and those engaging with it at deepest level for research and enhancement of current knowledge. At one level, the scholars of the language may have to learn the state of the art IT methods while at the other, those at the forefront of professional IT pursuits will have to be fast-tracked into acquiring knowledge of the language with nuances relevant for their purpose.
While methods like telecast or broadcast will address certain issues, use of face-book, tweeter, U-tube, audio-visual learning and archiving, specialized blogs catering to various subjects will address more nuanced requirements. What we need is a policy and support environment that maximizes benefits of such efforts and a facilitating structure that takes modern communication methods to this ancient yet living language. And yet, it must be restated that there is no final substitute to “Gurumukhat Vidya” ie “Learning by being with a Guru ”. A detailed discussion on this subject is available at the website. www.kaushalamtrust.com.
B. Unified Indian Culture : A vast land called variously as Jamboodweep, Bharatvarsh, Aryavart had one characteristic – a certain set of values, सत्यान्वेषण, त्याग, अध्ययन, अचौर्य, अतिथी-धर्म, दान, संतोष etc. They created a social system of cooperation, as depicted in सह नाववतु, सह नौ भुनक्तु , certain processes, skills and a truely decentralised economy tthriving on principle of free, non-monetized flow of knowledge. An entire integral culture, irrespective of geographical boundaries of local rulers, that commonly inherited these skills and values can be said to be Bharateey Sanskriti. It is important to note that these values deeply relate with Nature and Environment. There is a Role for cow and rivers and mountains and trees – in fact all these have been given a revered personality. Study of these subjects and Indian values represented in them is a subject of Research and will be taken up by the Trust. On the socio-psychological side, how values get inculcated, what practices they require, how was it achieved thousands of years back and continued therefrom, what are the contributions of our various Vrat and Anushthan in inculcating those values, is also a matter of research and application.
Traditional methods of retaining the currency of Sanskrit, let alone enhance it, have their own limitations, major among them being their insulation from modern communication avenues and tools. We must learn to use modern communication techniques and explore policy initiatives needed to support such efforts. These techniques will have to adopt parallel processing approach, given the diverse nature of the audience interested in Sanskrit such as those engaging with it at a very basic and emotional level, those doing so at a deeper level of understanding and enjoyment, those using it in livelihood mode and those engaging with it at deepest level for research and enhancement of current knowledge. At one level, the scholars of the language may have to learn the state of the art IT methods while at the other, those at the forefront of professional IT pursuits will have to be fast-tracked into acquiring knowledge of the language with nuances relevant for their purpose.
While methods like telecast or broadcast will address certain issues, use of face-book, tweeter, U-tube, audio-visual learning and archiving, specialized blogs catering to various subjects will address more nuanced requirements. What we need is a policy and support environment that maximizes benefits of such efforts and a facilitating structure that takes modern communication methods to this ancient yet living language. And yet, it must be restated that there is no final substitute to “Gurumukhat Vidya” ie “Learning by being with a Guru ”. A detailed discussion on this subject is available at the website. www.kaushalamtrust.com.
B. Unified Indian Culture : A vast land called variously as Jamboodweep, Bharatvarsh, Aryavart had one characteristic – a certain set of values, सत्यान्वेषण, त्याग, अध्ययन, अचौर्य, अतिथी-धर्म, दान, संतोष etc. They created a social system of cooperation, as depicted in सह नाववतु, सह नौ भुनक्तु , certain processes, skills and a truely decentralised economy tthriving on principle of free, non-monetized flow of knowledge. An entire integral culture, irrespective of geographical boundaries of local rulers, that commonly inherited these skills and values can be said to be Bharateey Sanskriti. It is important to note that these values deeply relate with Nature and Environment. There is a Role for cow and rivers and mountains and trees – in fact all these have been given a revered personality. Study of these subjects and Indian values represented in them is a subject of Research and will be taken up by the Trust. On the socio-psychological side, how values get inculcated, what practices they require, how was it achieved thousands of years back and continued therefrom, what are the contributions of our various Vrat and Anushthan in inculcating those values, is also a matter of research and application.
D.
Creating
Hard and Soft Infrastructure for Training and practice of Curating,
museology, conservation of cultural products, etc.
This
requires documenting
and collaborating with such institutes as National
Mansucript Mission and National projects of digital library of India.
Trust will facilitate Study relating to Archiving, digitisation and
conservation methods – syllabus for them. Also for relating
Museums,
Library and information science with Sanskrit.
Knowledge
of relevant Sanskrit Texts has to be imparted for preparing Culture
catalogues, which include material objects, icons, languages and
terminologies.
E.
Documenting Learning Methodologies
The
oldest living Indian Culture survived thanks to its unique
teaching-learning traditions. There is need to study and document the
following -
-
Interview Gurukuls whose students are learning traditional computational studies and artisan skills.
-
Interview young scholars of Badrayan sanmaan and other awardees.
-
Interact meaningfully with foreigners studying Sanskrit and critically editing Indian texts – how the traditional methods work with them.
-
Documenting Sanskrit learning skills from world over by picking up people who learnt sanskrit at home with forefathers, in a traditional Gurukuls, in Indian universities, in self study mode, in online studies, in various universitites abroad.
-
Lecture programs of scholars discussing different teaching learning methods so that more interaction is possible among the teachers and students and lovers of Sanskrit.
F.
Sanskrit for Youth
Why
would the youth learn Sanskrit ? One prominent reason is the growing
of market economy. With MNCs wanting to capture Indian market and
also trying to source their raw-material and production from India,
they need a middle-management that can deal with both customers and
workers in Indian languages. They would need to use icons, symbols
and philosophies which are essentially Indian. Hence the knowledge of
Sanskrit and its treasures of wisdom is necessary. This is also
important because wherever they go in India these icons, symbols and
philosophies are the same.
There
is a second dimension. Many Youngsters are turning to Art and
Art-forms, not merely the performance but also capturing the Art
through camera, script-writing, and other activities. With a good
subject knowledge, these are high career opportunities.
That
is why learning Sanskrit and becoming the champion of our rich
cultural heritage are not very far from each other.
Carreer
Opportunities are available in the form of
1.
Vacancies
2.
Fellowships
3.
National
and Regional Research projects.
4.
For Heritage history, knowledge of many scripts emanating from
Sanskrit is needed. Sadly there are not many competent scholars in
India in this field.
5.
Appropriate Soft-ware development to transfer material from one
Indian script (ancient and modern) to another. This requires
knowledge of computer science, information technology and of Sanskrit
and old scripts of Sanskrit.
6.
Buddhist and Jain studies are emerging to be a major area of study in
Asia. A majority of Buddihsit texts are translated in Asian languages
from Sanskrit and Pali. There are opportunities both in texts and
supporting Softwares.
F.
Involving
Senior citizens,
to
once again build up the tradition of story-telling to strenthen the
bond between tsenior citizens and their third generation. Stories of
Mahabharat, the world’s largest epic can give material for a good
beginning. Discussions have been initiated with some senior citizen
groups in Pune.
G.
Role of house-wives, liabraries, Temple Pandits, students, publishers
–All
these seemingly non-technical groups have a role to play in revival
of Sanskrit. Trust will work in direction.
H.
Scientific Terminology in Indian languages,
This is a growing need to handle information explosion of products.
Online sale of products, requires a scientific terminology as well
easy communication. Content writing for science and technology in the
area of pharmaceuticals and white goods etc. is a booming business.
Content writing in regional languages is becoming important for
product display, description and sale. India is emerging as large
market and content writers have to work against dead lines. will be
preferred over others. Those who have a base in Sanskrit can handle
the new requirement in vocabulary for product descriptions as well as
product technology in an efficient and timely manner. It will give
them edge over other translators. It is for this objective that
Universities
in India and abroad will need to offer Sanskrit and Indian heritage
related courses
I.
Show-casing Role Models
There
is huge scope to develop appropriate fora across India and the World
where a student of Sanskrit can be benefited in terms of material
advancement, intellectual satisfaction and contribution to nation.
Role models such as Manjul Bhargava, Rajeev Sangal have shown how a
profound understanding of Sanskrit Granthas and History of Science may be used to strategize the study of Sanskrit.
Youth need concrete examples where inter-disciplinary courses to combine Sanskrit and classical studies with IT, mathematics and other sciences and can fetch them very good career options.
Part 5
Trial
Activities till 2008
A.
Publishing work of Dr Agnihotri --Between
2000 to 2004, Dr Agnihotri wrote 4 books namely, Patanjal Yogsutra,
Sankhyakarika, Yogtrayi and Buddhiyog, which were published
byHrishikesh. In 2004 we created professinal Audio CDs with his
recited of BhagawadGeeta.
B.
AIR
Jalgaon Akashwani
has been vying to promote Sanskrit through its news-broadcasts and
other programs. In 2006, I gave a series of 10 lectures on AIR
Jalgaon, explaining the beauty and deep philosophy behind 10 Shlokas.
These were then put on You Tube.
C.
Creation
of TV serials
Already
some experience was collected through the effort of recording
BhagawadGeeta, and integrating it with a serial on energy and
environment efficiency and telecasting on a channel. Now was the time
for brainstorming
as well as preparatory action to explore how Kaushalam can facilitate
Sanskrit serials on TV channels on a sustained basis which will
allow active participation of large audience of all varieties. The
serial would be part 1 of a bigger plan for holistic and
multi-pronged strategies for revival of sanskrit. The discussions
brought out the requirements of such serial.
Suggested
Name -- Sanskrit ki duniya
Design of the TV serial is very crucial as it must be educating and entertaining both.
It can be planned for 30 min. everyweek.
It has to be for various audience groups.
It can have SANSKRIT -PATH, a small self learning exercise, a segment to introduce an expert or a subject or a granth, a segment to suggest research ideas, a section for performing students, viewer-opinion and feedback etc.
It will ensure free flow of suggestions and large participation of audience, especially those who do not have much knowledge of Sanskrit but will seek to benefit.
Design of the TV serial is very crucial as it must be educating and entertaining both.
It can be planned for 30 min. everyweek.
It has to be for various audience groups.
It can have SANSKRIT -PATH, a small self learning exercise, a segment to introduce an expert or a subject or a granth, a segment to suggest research ideas, a section for performing students, viewer-opinion and feedback etc.
It will ensure free flow of suggestions and large participation of audience, especially those who do not have much knowledge of Sanskrit but will seek to benefit.
It
will involve Students.
Why
a serial?
A weekly serial will keep our continuous presence before public.
Viewers like it as it offers tremendous flexibility to them, thus avoiding to make demands on their time – they may decide that it is very interesting and hence participate or see with interest and remember and talk to others, or see for entertainment and forget or ignore to see, but it will all be their wish.
Why and what shall we do for Sanskrit through the TV serial. ?
1. If Indians don’t do then who will do? Hence our decision
2. Sanskrit has a huge treasure of knowledge – to explore it
3. Today, this vast treasure of knowledge in Sanskrit can be accessed by only a few scholars, advancing in their age. We must facilitate and ensure the flow of their knowledge to appropriate receipients.
4. People interested in Sanskrit are of 3 categories –
· Peripheral learners, students etc who want some shlokas, some quick-learning lessons, a bit of grammar, and vocabulary so that when they read a small passage, they can savor its beauty and contents – Their attachment to Sanskrit is at Emotional level.
· Somewhat deep learner, not very keen on language itself but wanting to know from the vast treaure of knowledge contents in Sanskrit. Their attachment to Sanskrit is at Intellectual level.
· Great scholars, keen on attaining further heights as well as giving their acquired wisdom to others, researchers, institutions etc.
5. TV Serial should facilitate building up network among all those who are doing good work for Sanskrit. Hence emphasis will not be on telling the world that we are doing a great job but to tell world what all great jobs are being done by all those people for whom the network will be created.
6. why would the youth learn Sanskrit – 1 prominent reason is the growing of market economy. With MNCs wanting to capture Indian market and also trying to source their raw-material and production from India, they need a middle-management that can deal with customers and workers both in Indian languages. They would need to use icons, symbols and philosophies which are essentially Indian. Hence the knowledge of Sanskrit and its treasures of wisdom is necessary. Example I would like to quote is the high TRP for Aaj Tak’x program Tej Tare. This is also important because wherever they go in India these icons, symbols and philosophies are the same.I
A weekly serial will keep our continuous presence before public.
Viewers like it as it offers tremendous flexibility to them, thus avoiding to make demands on their time – they may decide that it is very interesting and hence participate or see with interest and remember and talk to others, or see for entertainment and forget or ignore to see, but it will all be their wish.
Why and what shall we do for Sanskrit through the TV serial. ?
1. If Indians don’t do then who will do? Hence our decision
2. Sanskrit has a huge treasure of knowledge – to explore it
3. Today, this vast treasure of knowledge in Sanskrit can be accessed by only a few scholars, advancing in their age. We must facilitate and ensure the flow of their knowledge to appropriate receipients.
4. People interested in Sanskrit are of 3 categories –
· Peripheral learners, students etc who want some shlokas, some quick-learning lessons, a bit of grammar, and vocabulary so that when they read a small passage, they can savor its beauty and contents – Their attachment to Sanskrit is at Emotional level.
· Somewhat deep learner, not very keen on language itself but wanting to know from the vast treaure of knowledge contents in Sanskrit. Their attachment to Sanskrit is at Intellectual level.
· Great scholars, keen on attaining further heights as well as giving their acquired wisdom to others, researchers, institutions etc.
5. TV Serial should facilitate building up network among all those who are doing good work for Sanskrit. Hence emphasis will not be on telling the world that we are doing a great job but to tell world what all great jobs are being done by all those people for whom the network will be created.
6. why would the youth learn Sanskrit – 1 prominent reason is the growing of market economy. With MNCs wanting to capture Indian market and also trying to source their raw-material and production from India, they need a middle-management that can deal with customers and workers both in Indian languages. They would need to use icons, symbols and philosophies which are essentially Indian. Hence the knowledge of Sanskrit and its treasures of wisdom is necessary. Example I would like to quote is the high TRP for Aaj Tak’x program Tej Tare. This is also important because wherever they go in India these icons, symbols and philosophies are the same.I
7.
That is why learning Sanskrit and becoming the champion of our rich
cultural heritage are not very far from each other.
8. Involve Senior citizens to once again build up the tradition of story-telling to build up the bond between them and their third generation. For this we shall begin with the stories of Mahabharat, the world’s largest epic.
8. Involve Senior citizens to once again build up the tradition of story-telling to build up the bond between them and their third generation. For this we shall begin with the stories of Mahabharat, the world’s largest epic.
In
a meeting held at Delhi, in 2007, a format was finalised for a 30
minute weekly program. Budget estimates were worked out. Name,
language, anchor, opening song, script writing, stage setting etc
were discussed.
Towards
a pilot episode, following clips were captured
-
Part Recording of Ved-Vidya Sammelan at Indore
-
Recording of first 10 lessons of Janen Sanskrit, Padhen Sanskrit
-
Recording by Shri Nishant Ketu on importance of Sanskrit
-
Recording with Vaidya Khadiwale on basic principles of Ayurved
-
Recording of ShantiPath by Maula Ali of Guntur
A
series of discussions were held with DD Doordarshan and IGNOU on
possibility of Collaboration between Trust and IGNOU for production
of the TV serial for broadcasting on DD.
D.
Work on Inscript for bringing Bharteey Bhasha on Computers-- I
attended several conferences to put forth the need of using INSCRIPT
for all Bharteey languages, Hindi Conf in Surinam in 2007 and in New
York in 2009.This mission will continue further till many barriers
are removed.
E.
Work on Charkha
--Indian
culture has evolved round two major occupations namely agriculture
and textile. At a smallest scale, one can contribute in Textile
by learning
how to spin a Takli or Charkha. During the one-month long Pandhari
Wari, lakhs of people who travel on foot to cross several hundred
kilometers can be seen as a tremendous source of energy. If they spin
yarn during these days while continuing Hari-Jaap, it will present a
mind-boggling example of decentralised productivity. I discussed this
with a large group of Warkaris from Parbhani and Beed and arranged a
one-month takli training camp for ladies just before Wari. Then I
also traveled with them from Pune to Saswad and discussed the concept
with several other groups. During the night halt at Saswad, these
ladies gave a demo and explained the concept before a large group of
Warkaris. Yarn spun by these ladies was collected and later it was
weaved by Nanded Khadi Centre into nearly 23 meters of cloth. This
whole exercise received guidance and active support from Shri C.
Dharmadhikari, retired HC Judge. The cloth was dedicated to
Dynaneshwar mauli on the kartiki Ekadashi. Such efforts whether
yielding instant results or not are useful social experiments which
can shape up some good practices.
A
large volume of text exists to guide us regarding proper strategies
for SAMRIDDHI through Agriculture, Textile and other Skills. Charkha
or Takli spinning by the traditional Warkaris in Maharashtra during
Ashadh pilgrim would remain as a challanging experiment in its
organisation as well as in creating wealth.
F.
RC Chairman at Bhandarkar Institute, Pune –I
had been a member of Bhandarkar Oriental Reseach Institute (BORI) for
some time. For their 3-yearly elections of 2008, I filed the
nomination, was elected and was further elected as the Chairman of
Regulating Council. I accepted this as a part of promoting Sanskrit.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Report
from Trustees
------------
-------
(Following
can be added after the Report from Trustees.)
List
of Trust Supporters
Lal
Bahadur Shastri Univ. Of Sanskrit, and Dept of Sanskrit in Delhi
Univ, Rashtriya Samskrit Sansthan Delhi and Mumbai, Scholars from all
over India, Some interested staff members from PCRA (Delhi), GAD and
ADF (Mantralaya, Mumbai) Many colleagues from IAS and otherwise,
National School of Drama and some production houses of short films,
Poets and Artists. Lot of trial activities were done to validate
perceived Guiding Concepts. The Trustees are thankful to them all.
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