Alakananda Samskrita Shibiram was held at Coloma, along the American River north of Sacramento, California, from July 1 to 9, 2000. Eighty-one adults and children spent their time immersed in Samskrit in Alakananda Samskrita Shibiram. Students, aged five to 69, came from seventeen states, Canada and Bharat, while their instructors came from California, Connecticut and Bharat. Classes were held for four groups children under 14, beginners without knowledge of any Indian language, beginners (and advanced beginners) with knowledge of an Indian language and more advanced Samskrit students. (The name Samskrit is derived from two words and literally means "well-done.") The attendees included many Ph.D.s, several medical doctors, two Ayurvedic doctors, a nurse, computer professionals, teachers, a lawyer, housewives, and students.
The idea was to "Speak Samskrit not about Samskrit." Sri Krishna Shastry, the person behind the "Speak Samskrit" movement in India which has taught conversational Samskrit to tens of thousands of men, women, and children, stated at the end of the Shibiram (camp) that his "expectations were more than met." He was specifically impressed by the commitment of the vast majority of the campers to continue the study of Samskrit beyond the camp period. The organization has correspondence courses and many students will also continue their study with study groups in their own communities. It will publish a 2-CD-ROM set for Samskrit instruction later this year.
The days began at 5:30 a.m. with the wake-up call in Samskrit and did not end until after 10 p.m. Each group had five 60-minute classes per day. In addition there were yoga classes taught in Samskrit, games to develop better memory and alertness, and bhajans. Evening programs, including shlokas, original humorous skits, and geets were presented in Samskrit by children, teenagers and adult campers. Hindu vegetarian food was catered and served buffet-style by the participants. Campers also used their "free time" studying, writing and practicing skits and participating in informal discussions, often in Samskrit. Thursday morning, campers took a two-mile hike and had breakfast and morning classes under the trees in a nearby park. The outstanding teachers included Sri Janardan Hegde who teaches throughout Bharat with Samskrit Bharati, Dr. Sarasvati Mohan of Sanskrit Academy, Smt. Jyoti Rao who worked with children, and Sri Vasuvaj, a full-time volunteer worker for Samskrita Bharati who has been teaching conversational Samskrit throughout the USA, mainly in one-day to five-day introductory courses, for more than a year.
A special feature of the camp was the participation of fifteen children under age 14. Their teachers taught them simple Samskrit conversation and Hindu dharma, using games and crafts. Although most of the children had not wanted to attend camp, by the end of the camp they were very happy to be able speak and understand enough for simple conversations and even to compose and perform skits in Samskrit. Tears were in the eyes of the children as they left their new friends at the end of the camp.
In addition to teaching Samskrit, the goal of the Samskrit Bharati, a non-profit voluntary organization, was to teach Indian culture. A further aim, for the advanced students, was to enable them teach effectively in their own communities. At the same time the organizer's goals were being met, participants also were beginning to meet some of their own objectives. Ms. Karuna Goleria, a young lawyer, came to camp knowing no one but wanting to learn Samskrit in order to read Samskrit literature without relying on translation, as well as to work on U.S. patents of Ayurvedic medicines. Sri Stanley Berley, an Indian American whose parents are Catholic, wants to read the scriptures of Sanatana Dharma in their original language. Sri Shivakumar Varma and his wife Smt. Susan Barr, Ayurvedic doctors, plan to include Samskrit as a workshop topic, complementing their clinical practice in Vancouver, BC. Although Sri S. K. Hussain works in a small computer firm in the Silicon Valley, he has a four-year plan to continue to study medical sciences, including Ayurveda, and establish a hospital to serve the people of his village in Bharat. He considers knowledge of Samskrit essential for his studies. Smt. Shanta Viswanathan who teaches Sanskrit and Sanskrit religious scriptures at the Hindu temple in Troy, Michigan, plans to include conversational Samskrit as part of her courses. Others plan to teach after further study of the language. At the end of the camp many of the participants stated that they had learned more in the nine-day period than in two (or more) years of academic study of Samskrit that focused on reading and writing, not on speaking.
Due to their commitment to provide instruction for all who were interested in learning Samskrit, the organizers requested Dr. Jayashree Srinivas, who was originally to teach more advanced students, to teach a class exclusively for those who did not have the "passive knowledge" of Samskrit that the other adult participants enjoyed. The flexibility of her teaching as well as her great love of Sanskrit provided the very serious participants with a good background to continue their studies.
A group of volunteers, mainly from the San Jose area of California, has been planning this camp for nearly a year and a half, with concentrated effort during the last two months, resulting in a very organized camp, meeting the varying needs of the participants.
Due to the success of this camp, the first nine-day residential camp held outside of India, it is expected that another such camp will be held in North America next summer. Many of the 81 campers will be likely to return for a second camp due to their enthusiasm and interest in learning Samskrit.
Press release prepared by Beth Kulkarni, Houston, TX.