GUWAHATI: "Ek kilo parimitam alookam dadatu," requested Amalendu, a villager in Patiala Basti, asking for a kilogram of potatoes. Shopkeeper Akbar responded: "Astu dadami (take it)." This exchange, a scene from daily life, is just one of many where Sanskrit has become an integral part of communication in Anipur Basti and Patiala Basti near the Bangladesh border in southern Assam's Karimganj - a Muslim-majority district where the official language is Assamese and the native tongue is Bengali.
Here, the 5,000-year-old language is not just a subject in textbooks but a language spoken fluently in everyday life. Villagers greet each other with a friendly "namaskaram" while callers exchange, "Bhavan katham asti (How are you)?" to which the reply is, "Samyak asmi (I am fine)." Patiala is also witnessing a revival, with at least 50 residents fluent in Sanskrit.
Concentration levels of kids up since Sanskrit shift, say locals Around 300 of the 400 residents of Anipur Basti converse comfortably in Sanskrit, conducting business and even personal calls in the ancient language. Suman Kumar Nath, a local school teacher and resident of Anipur, is proud of the village's linguistic journey. "Being the oldest language of the country, Sanskrit is a very rich language and a reservoir of our ancient knowledge," he said.
For Nath, Sanskrit is not only a way to honour heritage but a means of accessing the knowledge embedded in the language. Nath's school, which educates 200 children, including 20 M.
