Campus Talk: Amid heated politics over Hindi and Marathi, this Mumbai college is promoting Sanskrit

Professor Aditi Madhavan, Sanskrit faculty at the college and teacher coordinator of the festival, explained, “The idea is to provide enriching exposure to Sanskrit language and literature—not through lectures and scholarly discussions, but by encouraging young students to engage with it through various events and competitions. It was important to make it relevant to today’s youth by incorporating new-age activities, but with a Sanskrit twist.”

Sanskrit festival at V G Vaze College (Pallavi Smart)

For instance, the chitrashrenika competition requires participants to create a short video reel with a voiceover or background track in Sanskrit. The accompanying caption must also be in Sanskrit and the reel needs to be posted on social media. The organisers believe that such a format encourages students to explore the language creatively and spark curiosity.

“You never know what might resonate with a young student—some of our past participants, especially our student volunteers, have actually developed a deep interest in Sanskrit literature,” Madhavan said.

To ensure accessibility, the festival follows a bilingual format. “The aim is to make Sanskrit inclusive, not limited to a niche audience,” she added. The organisers have even coined Sanskrit terms for other modern activities such as ankiyachitram for digital art, among others, to make the event more relatable to youths.

Professor Preeta Nilesh, principal of VG Vaze College, which is run by the Kelkar Education Trust, noted, “To date, our college remains one of the few institutions that host a Sanskrit celebration bringing together both school and college students in a shared cultural and scholarly space. It aligns well with the ethos of the Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) as formally recognised in the National Education Policy 2020. This year’s theme, Bhagwad Geeta, makes the 10th edition particularly significant.”

Interested students may visit https://sites.google.com/view/dhruvaasanskritmahotsav/home for more details.

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