Bangalore :
If you thought there would be no takers for Sanskrit at the graduate and post-graduate level, sample this – 166 students have enrolled in the master’s degree programme at Karnataka Samskrit University and 249 are pursuing the degree programme. Of the 166 students, nine bagged gold medals on Friday, during the convocation ceremony of the 2011-13 batch.
Gowri Hegde is the only girl to bag the gold medal and the only one to achieve the feat in Alankar Shashtra, her specialization. When asked why she chose to study Alankar Shastra, she says, “Sanskrit is the mother of all Indian languages. Both my parents are familiar with it. I had to pick from Kannada, English and Sanskrit but I chose to learn the root of all languages, which was an exciting thing to do.”
Hedge belongs to Honnavar in Udupi district and her father is an agriculturist. Her dream is to be a Sanskrit teacher. “Though there are fewer job opportunities in our field as compared to other languages, the best option for a Sanskrit student is to teach the language,” she added.
Contrary to Hedge’s opinion, Nagendra Pawan RN sees a huge opportunity in research work in the field of linguistics. “I have grown up amid Sanskrit culture, although I knew nothing about the language and its roots in my childhood. When my father asked me to study Sanskrit in college, I took it up. Now I realize that it was the right thing to do. Job opportunities may be few, but research in linguistics is a great field to work in,” he told TOI. He is a gold medallist in Vyakaran Shastra.
Nagendra’s friend, Vijayananda Adiga B wants to be an astrologer. His father and father are astrologers by profession. “I was destined to become an astrologer. My father and Dr Kottemane Ramkrishna inspired me to learn Sanskrit. I will pursue a PhD in Jyotish Shastra.”
Other gold medallists, Srikrishna Bhat (Poorvaneemamsa Shastra), Bhimsena Gopalachar Guttal (Nyaya Shastra), Mahesh G Bhatt (Krishna Yejur Veda Shastra) and Naveen Bhatt S (Advaitha Vedanta Shastra) are already working in PUC schools or Gurukulams as Sanskrit teachers. Their fathers are either priests or astrologers but they want to preach the language among city students.
History of the varsity
Karnataka Samskrit University was set up in 2010 by the state government under the Directorate of Samskrit Education. The varsity has two constitutional colleges – Chamarajendra Samskrit College in Chamarajpet, Bangalore and Mysore Samskrit College. It has 28 other affiliated colleges across Karnataka.
The government has identified 100 acres of land for the varsity in Kuduru hobli, Magadi taluk. The directorate includes 354 recognized Sanskrit pathashalas in the state. The undergraduate programme comprises 17 Shastras and the PG course has 16 Shastras. The vice-chancellor announced during the convocation that PhD programmes will be started from this academic year.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com /The Times of India / Home> City> Bangalore / TNN / June 15th, 2013