New subject: [WMIN-Members] [Press] : Times of India : "Sanskrit makes a comeback, thanks to Wikipedia community"

7 Mar 2012

Any way to reach out to them ? Are they on sa-wiki list ?

*Times of India : "Sanskrit makes a comeback, thanks to Wikipedia community"
*
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/Sanskrit-makes-a-comeback-t…

*Acclaimed author and linguist Umberto Eco once compared languages to
biological creatures. A language, he said, follows an organic lifespan - it
is born, it grows old, and it passes away. If the analogy holds, then
Sanskrit, one of the most ancient of tongues which originated in India,
seems to be living the last of its grizzled and decrepit years.

There has been talk of declaring it a dead language, and some believe that
it is only a matter of time before this language too goes the way of
ancient Greek and Latin. But this is likely only if the labour and constant
endeavours of the Sanskrit community - a body comprising scholars and
students of the language present in Gurgaon and other parts of the country
- fail to bear fruit.

Dr Shreyansh Dwivedi is part of the department of Sanskrit in SCERT,
Gurgaon. According to him, contrary to popular notions, Sanskrit is most
alive today than it has ever been. "The trouble is that most people do not
realize how much is happening in this field," he said.

Attempts have been made to help the language evolve to modern standards.
Haryana Sanskrit Academy is about to a launch a Sanskrit grammar software
for the students of the language. A full-fledged Sanskrit Wikipedia is
online, where scholars like Dwivedi and his colleagues are regular
contributors. And in Gurgaon, preparations for a new seminar and workshop
for the young are under way.

"There is no other language, which is being supported so thoroughly and
comprehensively, not just in Gurgaon, but in other parts of the country
too," said Dwivedi. He added that even those who are teaching Sanskrit in
schools and colleges have little idea about how vibrant this sphere is with
activity.

According to officials of the Haryana Sanskrit Academy, young students are
more than willing to go for language degrees in Sanskrit. "Earlier this
month the Delhi Sanskrit Academy held a one-day workshop, where hundreds of
young people turned up. It's only a matter of making the language
accessible, and Sanskrit will find many takers within no time," said an
official of the academy. *

Regards
Tinu Cherian
press(a)wikimedia.in
http://wiki.wikimedia.in/In_the_news

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