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[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

> > On the other hand, creating space for Sanskrit may
> > be a good precedent for Tamil and modern Indian
> > languages.
>
>Surely this is somewhat hieratic? To be introduced in
>the curriculum, why should modern Indian languages
>need any kind of precedent? Isn't it enough that these
>languages are mother tongues of students?

I distinguish among various levels of language education.
I studied Marathi in Mumbai, and I think Punjabi children
have to learn Tamil in Chennai. This is at the high school
level. What might need more attention is some commitment
to Indian languages at higher levels of education. Where
are the people and resources for Tamil in Amritsar or
Assamese in Mysore? Question - would this be necessary?
Further question - where does Sanskrit fit into a picture
of each linguistic state taking care of its own? Answer
- in Europe, America and Japan. On the other hand, if
someone somewhere in India does a little for Sanskrit,
the experience may be instructive.

It boils down to this. Should higher education in India
give importance to Indian language material, from old
Sanskrit and Tamil through 16th century languages to
contemporary ones? I think yes, and I am an engineer.

Cheers,
Vidyasankar

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