Language !

Recently I was having a conversation with my colleague on the language which is hardly being heard / spoken ' Sanskrit ' .In fact I remember when i was in school ( 1986 ) I used to speak & learn sanskrit. But i dont think our current education system no longer provides this option. If this is how the current generation is then I will not be surprised if the next generation asks a question ' What is Sanskrit ? '

I love watching TV and I came across Doordarshan , " the only channel " which still broadcasts news in Sanskrit. This made me want more and then I googled to know more about Sanskrit.What i found on Wikepedia is truly interesting.

Sanskrit (संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. Sanskrit is a member of the Indo-Iranian sub-family of the Indo-European family of languages. It has the characteristic Satem sound changes associated with other members of Indo-Iranian.

The term "Sanskrit" was not thought of as a specific language set apart from other languages, but rather as a particularly refined or perfected manner of speaking. Knowledge of Sanskrit was a marker of social class and educational attainment in ancient India and the language was taught mainly to members of the higher castes, through close analysis of Sanskrit grammarians such as Pāṇini. Sanskrit, as the learned language of Ancient India, thus existed alongside the Prakrits (vernaculars), which evolved into the Middle Indic dialects, and eventually into the contemporary modern Indo-Aryan languages.

Today, Sanskrit continues to be widely used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals in the forms of hymns and mantras. Spoken Sanskrit is still in use in a few traditional institutions in India, and there are some attempts at revival.

The challenge that lies ahead is how to revive Sanskrit? I have started thinking , what about you ?