Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Press Release : University students launch worldwide Sanskrit promotion website

july 11, 2006

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Arun
Date: Jul 11, 2006 9:40 AM
Subject: Press Release : University students launch worldwide Sanskrit promotion website
To:

For Immediate Release
Washington DC
July 11, 2006
Contact : info@speaksanskrit.org ; 240-338-8525
 
Ever wondered what Sholay has to do with Sanskrit ? Or the popular Bollywood number "Aati Kya Khandala"? Ask any volunteer of  the "umd_ Samskritam" group and they have an answer ready. Not just an answer, they will enthusiastically direct you to the video of the "Sholay" skit and the "Aati Kya Khandala" song - both in Sanskrit - that they performed at an Indian event in the US, and whose videos are available through the popular video portal run by Google 
 
This  is one of the many new methods that this  group of youngsters, mainly students at the University of Maryland and young professionals from the area have adopted to promote spoken Sanskrit in daily life. On July 11, they are launching a new website - " www.speaksanskrit.org"
 
So, how did it all come up ? "umd_Samskritam" began as a collaboration between DESI ( www.desiumd.org), a student group at the University of Maryland and Samskrita-Bharati ( www.samskrita-bharati.org)   in Feb 2005, with the intention of introducing spoken Sanskrit in daily life. Having grown into a group of over 160 members and about 15 volunteers by May 2006, in addition to coordinating the Sanskrit activities in the DC area, they decided to launch this website which aims to function as a repository of Sanskrit resources, link together Sanskrit activities around the world and also promote Sanskrit through fun, and such activities as blogging and forums.   
 
So why July 11 ? One of the volunteers Srilatha Kuntumalla explains that it is "Guru Puja" day and that they wanted to give a surprise Gurudakshina to their teacher and Samskrita-Bharati volunteer, Mr Rajesh Rachabattuni.
 
How is this effort different from Samskrita-Bharati ? The volunteers claim that they intend to "fill in the gaps" by providing more online resources and also adding the youth angle to promoting Sanskrit through fun. "This effort is supplementary to the Samskrita-Bharati efforts. We don't intend to duplicate anything", said  Avinash Varna, another volunteer.  The website already has mp3 versions of stories, songs, conversations, and videos of fun skits that were performed during various Sanskrit workshops. The group has also launched a forum two weeks before which already has about 40 members and 120 posts.
 
In addition, there is a separate link for the DC area activities which includes weekly study groups at 4 different locations, weekend workshops once in two months, Sanskrit cultural programs in Indian community events, library and subscriptions to popular Sanskrit magazines . The group hopes that it can soon help create such webpages for various regions in USA where Sanskrit groups are already active. "This is just the beginning, we have a long way to go". Indeed it is so, for the motto the group has adopted is "Rachayema Samskrita Bhuvanam" which means "We shall create a Sanskrit world" !
 

1 comment:

kautilya said...

Terror Strikes Bombay
Manmohan,Patil,Sonia say maintain piss and harmony...

The city that voted in the secular Congress and booted out fundamentalist Shiv Sena must be thinking what has hit them..[I am half mumbaite btw]

On the other hand.. it may blame Sena..[talk of Stockholm Syndrome] for this.. remember how Hindus "provoke" this to happen..

With UPA in center and Congress in Maharashtra.. the Islamists never had it so easy..
I think the jehadis are the militant arm of the Congress like Bajrang Dal is the "militant arm" of RSS [wink wink]... ya except that the Bajrang Dal carries trishuls.. the jehadis carry the harmless RDX ...

Would it be expecting too much from Bombay to wake up atleast now..?
I guess yes. Bombay will resign itself to the situation... and go on with the routine...
Why? Bombay will even have a 98% attendance tomorrow, surpassing 93' blasts.. and all the "sicular" janata will congratulate themselves for show of such great resilience..
Anyways the icons of mumbai.. mahesh bhat,shabana,javed, teesta.. will have a ball after these blasts...good for them..