SAMSKRITAMSAHASAMMELANAM
Between 11th and 13th September, 2015, students of SJSACH attended a mahasammelanam conducted by Samskrita Bharati in Meenakshi College, Kodambakkam, Chennai. It was a three day event filled with informative seminars and interactions with various personalities. It also had an exhibition with stalls by various colleges and schools, where the crowd witnessed many young minds enthusiastically explain their models and display charts which spoke volumes about our rich past and about samskritam.
Samskrita Mahasammelanam – a detailed report
Day 1:
On the first day we entered into the premises of Meenakshi College and the first element of the event that caught our eye was “Guides!” At first we thought that it was not related to the event and that it was just a part of the activities of the college in which the event was to take place. But after 9:00AM, we realised the guides were on duty – to ensure discipline and comfort within the auditorium and in the premises overall. This was the first impressive note of the event. People were being welcomed with smiling karyakarta’s of samskritabharati, asking whether everyone had had their ‘alpaharam’ (breakfast). The environment was energised by little kids moving around and everyone was inspired to note the diversity of age groups/sects of people that had gathered with a love towards samskritam.
The morning session was thrilled by the samskrit songs of the technologised modern orchestra and singers of samskrita bharati. It was followed by an introductory programme.
The afternoon session began with a lively and informative session on “Healthy way of life as in Ayurveda and Bharateeya Culture”, delivered by our very own Prof. Dr. S. Swaminathan, Head of Department, Sanskrit-Samhita-Siddhanta. The crowd was evidently excited to note down the easy remedies and surprising Ayurvedic facts that they got to learn. This was followed by yet another sprightly session with Shri.Dushyant Sridhar, writer and public speaker, who sang his way to explain “Madhuram MadhurAksharam”. He explained the beauty of the blend that lies between Sangeeta sastram and samskritam. Not only did he give out jaw-dropping information and interesting facts about music and samskritam, but also explained the beauty behind the literature in Sanskrit. He sang to exhibit each expression in a manner that hit the chord in every heart there. The third speaker was Dr. Kaplesh Gajiwala, a plastic surgeon from Mumbai, who shared a very interesting link between samskritam and treatment. He shared his real experiences with patients with speech difficulties he had treated using the principals of panineeyan grammar. For example, a person who had a cavity in the throat region at the base of the tongue was treated using the sentence ‘akuhavisarjaneeyaanaam kanthah’ which is a sentence which expands to enlist the sounds produced from the region affected. By correlation between the ailment and the samskrit theories of speech production, he shared his success stories. Lastly, Shri Rajendran, Akhila Bharata Veda Ganita Pramukh explained how the Chandas in Sanskrit is used in the language of the computers. “Computing in Pingala chandas Shastram” was explained by him with the help of charts and calculative analysis.
Later that day, there was an animated cultural event lead by Dr. ‘Ghatam’ Karthik, This boosted the energy level of the whole scene by creating a heart throbbing ambience. Every hand in the audience was clapping to the rhythm, and every lip was trying to sync. What a beautiful end to the day!
Day 2
The day began with “Samskrite Vijnanam”, a workshop by Dr. Radhakrishnan Pillai, author of the book “Corporate Chanakya”, winner of the 2009 Sardar Patel Award. The afternoon session was about “Matru Vandanam” – a seminar by Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of state for commerce and industry (Independent charge), who elaborated on ‘Matru Sankalpam of Bharateeya Culture and its contemporary relevance’. This was followed by Justice Prabha Sridevan, Former judge of Madras High Court, and then by Dr. Thangam Meganathan, Chairperson, Rajalakshmi Institutions, chenai, Smt. Girija Raghavan, Journalist, women magazine publisher and editor. Lastly, an interaction was made by Dr. R. Sundarraman, Asst. Professor, SASTRA University, Thanjavur. The evening saw yet another lively cultural programme by students of Vivekananda Educational Society Schools.
Day 3
Day 3 was focused on the relationship between Tamil and Samskrit. The message of the session in a nutshell was that tamil and samskritam are complementary to each other, and hence one must treat both the languages with respect and without prejudice. H.E.Shri.V.Shanmuganathan, Governor of Meghalaya shared his views on the same. He describes how he has heard different languages from different places throughout his career, and talks on to describe the beauty of tamil and samskrit. This was followed by an interaction by Shri. Devanathan Yadav, Chairman, WIN TV. Dr. N Kannan, Head, Sanskrit Dept, SASTRA University, Thanjavur enlightened the crowd on similar lines. Smt. Parveen Sultana, Prof of SIET and Shri.R.N.Joe D’Cruz, President of Samskrita Bharati, Uttara Tamil Nadu spoke next. Each of these sessions was unique and informative in its own way. In the afternoon, there was a cultural programme and valedictory function. This was by Shri. Pon Radhakrishnan, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping, Govt. of India, Shri T Chakravarthy, Secretary, Vivekananda Educational Society, Chennai, Dr. (Ms) K.S. Babai, Secretary, Meenakshi Sundararajan Engineering College, Dr. Ram Mohan, Former Addl. Member Finance, Railway Board, Govt of India, Dr. P. Nandakumar, Akhila Bharata General Secretary, Samskrita Bharati, Kerala, and Shri.R.N.Joe D’Cruz, President of Samskrita Bharati, Uttara Tamil Nadu.
Free health camp by SJSACH
The crowd that had gathered with a love towards samskrit, also got the opportunity to experience Ayurveda, our own medical science as described in our beloved samskrit. Thanks to the free medical camp conducted by interns/doctors of SJSACH, under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Chakravarthy. The medical camp was guided throughout by our faculty Prof. Dr. Chakravarthy, Dr. Roshini, Prof. Dr. Sudhir, Dr. Saravanan, Dr. Munilokesh, Dr. PK Moharana and Prof. Dr. Ramadas Maganti. The audience that had gathered there got to see how diagnosis was done just by direct observations such as feeling the pulse, seeing the eye and tongue – as classically any Ayurvedic physician would do. They also got to see videos of Ayurvedic procedures like leech therapy, as performed by Dr. Anita Patel. Such videos along with introductory Ayurvedic video by Prof. Dr. S. Swaminathan kept the crowd attracted and fed by information. The stall caught the eyes of many due to this set up, supplemented by plants kept in front, to signify the principles of Ayurveda. The budding doctors indeed found it to be a useful experience, as they were guided by experienced physicians.
Prof. Dr. Chakravarthy was the backbone of this health camp, as he helped by co-ordination, constant support and guidance to the interns, and tireless motivation throughout the camp. Thus, the crowd that had assembled at the exhibitions got to experience not only samskrit, but also various realities explained by samskrit – such as, Ayurveda.
The overall Masammelanam was therefore a wonderful experience for the general public and for the students of SJSACH, whose overall visit was co-ordinated and guided by Sri.S.Thiagarajan.