Inter- School Sanskrit Vachan Kaushal Competition hosted by our School

The Indian School organised the Inter- School Sanskrit Vachan Kaushal Competition in the month of December, 2020.

The competition was held in two categories- the Sanskrit Shlok Vachan Competition and the Sanskrit Sambhashan Competition, where the participating schools were required to send their pre-recorded video entries. An eminent panel of experts adjudicated the enthusiastic responses received from several prominent schools across Delhi-NCR and other cities.

The competition was sponsored by the Prafull Foundation and the winners were awarded cash awards of Rs. 5000/-, 3000/- and 2000/-for the 1st, 2nd & 3rd positions respectively. In addition, two consolation prizes of Rs. 500 each were also awarded.

The winners of the competition were announced in an online ceremony which was held on 8 January 2021. Noted neurologist, Dr. Shamsher Dwivedi, Chairman of Neurosciences and Director of Clinical Services, Vimhans Nayati Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi graced the occasion as chief guest.

In his welcome speech School Chairman Mr. Prafull Goradia, said that Sanskrit is indeed very important for us as it is the mother of most of the Indian languages. He appreciated Dr. Dwivedis idea to organise such a competition to promote an enduring interest for Sanskrit amongst the new generation.

In his speech, Dr. Shamsher Dwivedi said that India as a country had existed for thousands of years and the land was known as Aryavart. To know the culture of India, the knowledge of Sanskrit is very important, as Sanskrit is the soul of India. He added that knowledge about Indian culture is all preserved in this language and we cannot afford to try and understand or relate to the culture of India merely through translations. He shared his opinion on popularising Sanskrit..he suggested that students must be given the opportunity to appear for the civil services' exams in Sanskrit. According to him if the study of Sanskrit enabled lucrative job opportunities, more students would be drawn to pursue the subject.

Mr. Jaganniwas Iyer, Sanskrit scholar who was one of the judges, said that such competitions were very important to save the pride of Sanskrit. Dr. Rekha Arora, Assistant Professor, Miranda House College, University of Delhi, co-judge congratulated the participants for their enthusiasm and commendable performance. She said that the participants were at par with college students in their pronunciation and presentation. According to her participating in such competitions was more important than winning.

The results of the event were announced by the School Vice Principal Dr. Anu Singh and Dr. Shikha Sharma, Head of Department, Sanskrit and Hindi. The results were as follows.

Shlok Vachan Competition 1st Position: Divij Wahi of Modern School, Barakhamba Road

2nd Position: Shraddha Saraswat of The Indian School

3rd Position: Shambhavi Saraswat of The Mother's International School

Consolation prizes were awarded to Surabhi Mukherjee of Birla Vidya Niketan and Harshita Rani of DAV Public School, Hazaribagh.

Sambhashan Competition 1st Position: Prisha Paliwal, The Mother's International School

2nd Position: Parth Kumar, DPS, R. K. Puram

3rd Position: Samriddhi Pratap Dubey, DPS, Bokaro Steel City

Consolation prizes were awarded to Advaita Sehgal of Vasant Valley School and Anahita Rai of Lotus Valley International School, Noida.

Principal, Ms. Tania Joshi expressed her delight at the success of the competition and thanked all the participants and their schools for their contribution to help popularise the study of Sanskrit.