{"id":48770,"date":"2012-07-18T12:50:19","date_gmt":"2012-07-18T12:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=48770"},"modified":"2012-07-18T12:50:19","modified_gmt":"2012-07-18T12:50:19","slug":"in-mysore-keeping-sanskrit-alive-on-newsprint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/in-mysore-keeping-sanskrit-alive-on-newsprint\/","title":{"rendered":"In Mysore, Keeping Sanskrit Alive On Newsprint"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Raksha Kumar\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the sleepy old part of Mysore, there is frantic activity at dawn in one small alley, as Sampath and Jayalakshmi Kumar are busy at work. \u201cThis might not pay, but it is something I have devoted my life to,\u201d said Sampath Kumar, editor of Sudharma, as he stands in front of an old typesetting machine that is used to publish newspapers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

\u201cSudharma,\u201d the world\u2019s only Sanskrit language daily newspaper is published in Mysore, Karnataka. Photo | Raksha Kumar<\/p><\/div>\n

Sudharma, which means \u201cgood faith\u201d in Sanskrit, is world\u2019s only Sanskrit-language daily newspaper that reports on the affairs of the world. Four pages in all, about 12 inches long, the paper covers a wide range of issues like India\u2019s economic policy, politics, sports and weather. Sudharma\u2019s circulation is a little under 2,000 copies per day, which go to Sanskrit scholars and students across India and abroad.<\/p>\n

In 1970, when Mr. Kumar\u2019s father, Varadaraja Iyengar, wanted to start the newspaper, he was met with resistance from various fronts. Not many people believed that Sanskrit, whose use declined in political and literary circuits in the 12th or the 13th century, had a vocabulary sufficient enough to cover the contemporary and complex activities and developments of each day. Mr. Iyengar took up this challenge by himself. \u201cHe just wanted to keep a \u2018dead\u2019 language alive,\u201d Mr. Kumar said.<\/p>\n

The question people were asking then was a natural one \u2013 why attempt to keep a dead language alive? \u201cSanskrit is an essential tool for anyone who wishes truly to understand India\u2019s history over any longer period than the last two or three centuries,\u201d said Professor J. L. Brockington, vice president of the International Association of Sanskrit Studies. \u201cA proper understanding of its past is vital for any culture to truly stay alive \u2014 all the more so when, as is the case for India, that past stretches over so long a continuous period.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Iyengar , who died in 1990, believed that the language was dying because it was not flexible enough to adapt to the changing times, said Nagaraja Rao, who has been the editorial head of Sudharma since its start. \u201cAnd, therefore, we began simplifying Sanskrit,\u201d he said. \u201cWe started adapting the language to express the ideas of modern India, what is happening in the elections, change of governments, the accidents on the road, et cetera. We had to invent new words to express new ideas like train, bus, police, democracy et cetera.\u201d<\/p>\n

Editing the paper takes Sampath Kumar more than five hours a day. He also translates news from other newspapers and tries to source articles from Sanskrit scholars from across the world.<\/p>\n

Mr. Kumar\u2019s wife, Jayalakshmi, who was also a student of Sanskrit language, is the only other permanent employee. \u201cEnjoying what you do is more important,\u201d she said, smiling. \u201cThe money will follow on its own.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the money, the newspaper barely breaks even on most days, with revenue coming purely from subscribers \u2014 Indian subscribers pay 400 rupees ($7.20) a year, while overseas subscribers pay $50 \u2013 and donations, given largely by Sanskrit scholars. Sometimes the paper is solely funded by the Kumars, who produce the newspaper in the basement of their home. The office and the printing press together are smaller than a basketball court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only reason we still continue to publish the paper despite all odds is because people tell us that they are extremely happy about the Language of Gods, or the Deva Bhasha, being brought to the people,\u201d said Mr. Rao, \u201cThat we are making it Manava Bhasha \u2013 Language of the Common Man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert Goldman, a professor of Sanskrit at the University of California, Berkeley, said, \u201cFor the readers of Sudharma, having a daily journal of news and culture in Sanskrit is more a matter of pride and pleasure than of necessity. After all, no one actually needs to have his or her daily news reported in Sanskrit as there are many other sources of news in modern regional, national and international languages and, frankly, no one is truly monolingual in Sanskrit anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, Sudharma\u2019s greatest challenge is to find more readers. \u201cIn our estimate, there are more than a 100,000 Sanskrit scholars in India and about a similar number abroad. But we have not been able to cross a few thousand in subscription,\u201d laments Mr. Rao. The paper has begun a\u00a0free online edition<\/a>that can be accessed without a registration.<\/p>\n

\u201cSanskrit as one of the great classical languages of India is comparable to Greek and Latin for Europe,\u201d said Mr. Rao. \u201cThe genius of India saw its expression for more than 3,000 years in Sanskrit. And therefore, yesterday, today, and tomorrow, Sanskrit will remain important.\u201d<\/p>\n

courtesy New York Times<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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